Which to use
“abides” is a verb and “abode” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #49,748
- “abides” frequency rank
- #24,365
- “abode” frequency rank
- 74113
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abides | abode |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of abide | Act of waiting; delay. |
Where the eye mixes abides and abode
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between abides and abode
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: abides is /əˈbaɪds/ while abode is /əˈbəʊd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74113, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
abides is recorded at frequency rank #49,748, classified as averb, pronounced /əˈbaɪds/. abode is at rank #24,365, tagged as anoun, pronounced /əˈbəʊd/.
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 74113, this pair ranks #37,381 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of abides vs abode
Shared letters: abde. Private to "abides": is. Private to "abode": o.
"abides" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC · "abode" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "abides" and "abode" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "abides" or "abode" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "abides" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "abode" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #37,381 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abides" and "abode" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abides vs asides". 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 #37,381 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.