Which to use
“again” is an adverb and “agape” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #189
- “again” frequency rank
- #44,043
- “agape” frequency rank
- 44232
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | again | agape |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Another time: indicating a repeat of an action. | In a state of astonishment, wonder, expectation, or eager attention; as with mouth hanging open. |
Where the eye mixes again and agape
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: again vs agape
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: again is /əˈɡɛn/ while agape is /əˈɡeɪp/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44232, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
again is recorded at frequency rank #189, classified as anadv, pronounced /əˈɡɛn/. agape is at rank #44,043, tagged as anadj, pronounced /əˈɡeɪp/.
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 44232, this pair ranks #232,497 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of again vs agape
Shared letters: ag. Private to "again": in. Private to "agape": ep.
"again" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC · "agape" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "again" for "agape" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "again" or "agape" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "again" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "agape" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #232,497 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "again" and "agape" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abate 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 #232,497 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.