Which to use
“aced” and “ate” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,285
- “aced” frequency rank
- #3,999
- “ate” frequency rank
- 50284
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | aced | ate |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of ace | simple past of eat |
Where the eye mixes aced and ate
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between aced and ate
A purely visual mix-up. aced (/eɪst/) and ate (/eɪt/) 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 50284, 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/. ate is at rank #3,999, tagged as averb, pronounced /eɪt/.
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 50284, this pair ranks #175,713 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of aced vs ate
Shared letters: ae. Private to "aced": cd. Private to "ate": t.
"aced" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "ate" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- aced ← acced · acde · acedd · aecd · caed
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "aced" for "ate" ever safe?
Which is more common, "aced" or "ate"?
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 "aced" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ate" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #175,713 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "aced" and "ate" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aced vs ake". 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 #175,713 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.