Which to use
“ake” and “awed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,292
- “ake” frequency rank
- #45,213
- “awed” frequency rank
- 91505
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ake | awed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Obsolete spelling of ache. | simple past and past participle of awe |
Where the eye mixes ake and awed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. ake runs 3 letters (VCV) against awed's 4 (VCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: ake vs awed
A purely visual mix-up. ake (/eɪk/) and awed (/ɔːd/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 91505, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ake is recorded at frequency rank #46,292, classified as averb, pronounced /eɪk/. awed is at rank #45,213, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɔːd/.
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 91505, this pair ranks #3,260 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ake vs awed
Shared letters: ae. Private to "ake": k. Private to "awed": dw.
"ake" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "awed" · 4 letters · shape VCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- awed ← aewd · awedd · awwed
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ake" for "awed" ever safe?
Which is more common, "ake" or "awed"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ake" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "awed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #3,260 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ake" and "awed" 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 #3,260 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.