augustvsaugusteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: august is a adjective, auguste is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“august” is an adjective and “auguste” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#822
“august” frequency rank
#37,326
“auguste” frequency rank
38148
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature august auguste
Definition Awe-inspiring, majestic, noble, venerable. A kind of clown, usually serving as an anarchic foil to the whiteface.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set august and auguste apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
august
7 ch
auguste

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

august and auguste form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “august” sits inside “auguste” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38148, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

august is recorded at frequency rank #822, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɔːˈɡʌst/. auguste is at rank #37,326, tagged as anoun, pronounced /aʊˈɡuːst/.

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 38148, this pair ranks #288,429 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Frequency comparison

august#822
auguste#37,326

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "august" and "auguste" be used interchangeably?
No, "august" and "auguste" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering august vs auguste

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “august”; for a noun, it's “auguste”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “august” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list