Which to use
“amaze” is a verb and “ample” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #22,572
- “amaze” frequency rank
- #10,978
- “ample” frequency rank
- 33550
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | amaze | ample |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To fill (someone) with surprise and wonder; to astonish, to astound, to surprise. | A fully sufficient or abundant quantity of; enough or more than enough. |
Where the eye mixes amaze and ample
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: amaze vs ample
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: amaze is /əˈmeɪz/ while ample is /ˈæm.pəl/. 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 (verb vs determiner), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33550, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
amaze is recorded at frequency rank #22,572, classified as averb, pronounced /əˈmeɪz/. ample is at rank #10,978, tagged as adet, pronounced /ˈæm.pəl/.
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 33550, this pair ranks #328,449 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of amaze vs ample
Shared letters: aem. Private to "amaze": z. Private to "ample": lp.
"amaze" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "ample" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "amaze" for "ample" ever safe?
Which is more common, "amaze" or "ample"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "amaze" and "ample" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "amaze" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ample" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #328,449 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "amaze" and "ample" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Amari vs amaze". 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 #328,449 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.