Which to use
“acer” is a noun and “ake” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #24,367
- “acer” frequency rank
- #46,292
- “ake” frequency rank
- 70659
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | acer | ake |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A plant of the genus Acer; a maple. | Obsolete spelling of ache. |
Where the eye mixes acer and ake
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. acer runs 4 letters (VCVC) against ake's 3 (VCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: acer vs ake
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: acer is /ˈeɪsə/ while ake is /eɪk/. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70659, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
acer is recorded at frequency rank #24,367, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈeɪsə/. 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 70659, this pair ranks #49,653 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of acer vs ake
Shared letters: ae. Private to "acer": cr. Private to "ake": k.
"acer" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "ake" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- acer ← accer · acerr · aecr
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "acer" for "ake" ever safe?
Which is more common, "acer" or "ake"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "acer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ake" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #49,653 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "acer" and "ake" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ake vs amb". 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 #49,653 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.