Which to use
“abate” is a verb and “agate” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,506
- “abate” frequency rank
- #36,422
- “agate” frequency rank
- 78928
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abate | agate |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To lessen (something) in force or intensity; to moderate. | A semitransparent, uncrystallized silicate mineral and semiprecious stone, presenting various tints in the same specimen, with colors delicately arranged and often curved in parallel alternating dark and light stripes or bands, or blended in clouds; various authorities call it a variety of chalcedony, a variety of quartz, or a combination of the two. |
Where the eye mixes abate and agate
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between abate and agate
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: abate is /əˈbeɪt/ while agate is /ˈæɡ.ɪt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - b in “abate” becomes g in “agate”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78928, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
abate is recorded at frequency rank #42,506, classified as averb, pronounced /əˈbeɪt/. agate is at rank #36,422, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈæɡ.ɪt/.
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 78928, this pair ranks #23,407 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of abate vs agate
Shared letters: aet. Private to "abate": b. Private to "agate": g.
"abate" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "agate" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "abate" and "agate" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "abate" or "agate" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "abate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "agate" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #23,407 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abate" and "agate" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abate vs abated". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #23,407 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.