Which to use
“adage” and “adobe” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,675
- “adage” frequency rank
- #14,259
- “adobe” frequency rank
- 44934
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | adage | adobe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An old saying which has obtained credit by long use. | An unburnt brick dried in the sun. |
Where the eye mixes adage and adobe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: adage vs adobe
A purely visual mix-up. adage (/ˈæd.ɪd͡ʒ/) and adobe (/əˈdəʊ.bi/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44934, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
adage is recorded at frequency rank #30,675, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈæd.ɪd͡ʒ/. adobe is at rank #14,259, tagged as anoun, pronounced /əˈdəʊ.bi/.
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 44934, this pair ranks #225,976 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of adage vs adobe
Shared letters: ade. Private to "adage": g. Private to "adobe": bo.
"adage" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "adobe" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "adage" for "adobe" ever safe?
Frequency check: "adage" vs "adobe" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "adage" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "adobe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #225,976 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "adage" and "adobe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "adage vs agape". 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 #225,976 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.