Which to use
“base” and “blame” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #942
- “base” frequency rank
- #2,330
- “blame” frequency rank
- 3272
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | base | blame |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Something from which other things extend; a foundation. | Censure. |
Where the eye mixes base and blame
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. base (/beɪs/) and blame (/bleɪm/) 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 3272, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
base is recorded at frequency rank #942, classified as anoun, pronounced /beɪs/. blame is at rank #2,330, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bleɪm/.
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 3272, this pair ranks #522,599 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of base vs blame
Shared letters: abe. Private to "base": s. Private to "blame": lm.
"base" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "blame" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV