aced vs ake, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“aced” and “ake” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#46,285
“aced” frequency rank: #46,292
“ake” frequency rank: 92577
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	aced	ake
Definition	simple past and past participle of ace	Obsolete spelling of ache.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set aced and ake apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

aced

3 ch

ake

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. aced (/eɪst/) and ake (/eɪk/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 92577, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aced is recorded at frequency rank #46,285, classified as averb, pronounced /eɪst/. ake is at rank #46,292, tagged as averb, pronounced /eɪk/.

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 92577, this pair ranks #2,511 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of aced vs ake

Shared letters: ae. Private to "aced": cd. Private to "ake": k.

"aced" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "ake" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Known mistypes of this pair

aced ← acced · acde · acedd · aecd · caed

Frequency comparison

aced#46,285

ake#46,292

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "aced" and "ake" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/eɪst/ versus /eɪk/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "aced" or "ake"?

"aced" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #46,285 in our English list, against #46,292 for "ake". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering aced vs ake

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “aced” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable