Which to use
“bade” and “bathe” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #42,539
- “bade” frequency rank
- #21,729
- “bathe” frequency rank
- 64268
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bade | bathe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past of bid | To clean oneself by immersion in water or using water; to take a bath, have a bath. |
Where the eye mixes bade and bathe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. bade runs 4 letters (CVCV) against bathe's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between bade and bathe
A purely visual mix-up. bade (/bæd/) and bathe (/beɪð/) 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 64268, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bade is recorded at frequency rank #42,539, classified as averb, pronounced /bæd/. bathe is at rank #21,729, tagged as averb, pronounced /beɪð/.
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 64268, this pair ranks #78,620 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of bade vs bathe
Shared letters: abe. Private to "bade": d. Private to "bathe": ht.
"bade" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "bathe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "bade" and "bathe" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "bade" vs "bathe" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "bade" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bathe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #78,620 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bade" and "bathe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bade vs bandy". 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 #78,620 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.