Which to use
“aback” is an adverb and “abate” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #29,152
- “aback” frequency rank
- #42,506
- “abate” frequency rank
- 71658
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | aback | abate |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Towards the back or rear; backwards. | To lessen (something) in force or intensity; to moderate. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set aback and abate apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aback is /əˈbæk/ while abate is /əˈbeɪt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71658, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
aback is recorded at frequency rank #29,152, classified as anadv, pronounced /əˈbæk/. abate is at rank #42,506, tagged as averb, pronounced /əˈbeɪt/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 71658, this pair ranks #45,919 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of aback vs abate
Shared letters: ab. Private to "aback": ck. Private to "abate": et.
"aback" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC · "abate" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "aback" and "abate" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "aback" or "abate"?
Remembering aback vs abate
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “aback”; for a verb, it's “abate”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “aback” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable