Which to use
“avenge” is a verb and “avenue” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,846
- “avenge” frequency rank
- #3,406
- “avenue” frequency rank
- 24252
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | avenge | avenue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To take vengeance (for); to exact satisfaction for by punishing the injuring party; to vindicate by inflicting pain or evil on a wrongdoer. | A broad street, especially one bordered by trees or, in cities laid out in a grid pattern, one that is on a particular side of the city or that runs in a particular direction. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set avenge and avenue apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: avenge is /əˈvɛnd͡ʒ/ while avenue is /ˈæv.əˌnjuː/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - g in “avenge” becomes u in “avenue”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24252, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
avenge is recorded at frequency rank #20,846, classified as averb, pronounced /əˈvɛnd͡ʒ/. avenue is at rank #3,406, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈæv.əˌnjuː/.
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 24252, this pair ranks #403,338 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of avenge vs avenue
Shared letters: aenv. Private to "avenge": g. Private to "avenue": u.
"avenge" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV · "avenue" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "avenge" and "avenue" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "avenge" or "avenue"?
Remembering avenge vs avenue
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “avenge”; for a noun, it's “avenue”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “avenge” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable