Which to use
“Adele” is a name and “adhere” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,947
- “Adele” frequency rank
- #13,452
- “adhere” frequency rank
- 29399
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Adele | adhere |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A female given name from the Germanic languages. | To stick fast or cleave, as a glutinous substance does; to become joined or united. |
Where the eye mixes Adele and adhere
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Adele and adhere
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Adele is /əˈdɛl/ while adhere is /ædˈhɪə/. 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 (name vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29399, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Adele is recorded at frequency rank #15,947, classified as aname, pronounced /əˈdɛl/. adhere is at rank #13,452, tagged as averb, pronounced /ædˈhɪə/.
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 29399, this pair ranks #363,323 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Adele vs adhere
Shared letters: ade. Private to "Adele": l. Private to "adhere": hr.
"Adele" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "adhere" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Adele" and "adhere" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "Adele" or "adhere"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "Adele" and "adhere" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Adele" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "adhere" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #363,323 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Adele" and "adhere" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "addled vs Adele". 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 #363,323 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.