Which to use
“agape” and “agile” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #44,043
- “agape” frequency rank
- #16,839
- “agile” frequency rank
- 60882
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | agape | agile |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | In a state of astonishment, wonder, expectation, or eager attention; as with mouth hanging open. | Having the faculty of quick motion in the limbs; apt or ready to move; loose-jointed. |
Where the eye mixes agape and agile
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. agape and agile follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses agape with agile
A purely visual mix-up. agape (/əˈɡeɪp/) and agile (/ˈæd͡ʒ.aɪl/) 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 60882, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
agape is recorded at frequency rank #44,043, classified as anadj, pronounced /əˈɡeɪp/. agile is at rank #16,839, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈæd͡ʒ.aɪl/.
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 60882, this pair ranks #97,580 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of agape vs agile
Shared letters: aeg. Private to "agape": p. Private to "agile": il.
"agape" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "agile" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "agape" for "agile" ever safe?
Frequency check: "agape" vs "agile" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "agape" and "agile" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "agape" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "agile" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #97,580 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "agape" and "agile" 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 #97,580 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.