Which to use
“bate” and “bathe” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,748
- “bate” frequency rank
- #21,729
- “bathe” frequency rank
- 60477
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bate | bathe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To reduce the force of something; to abate. | To clean oneself by immersion in water or using water; to take a bath, have a bath. |
Where the eye mixes bate and bathe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. bate 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 bate and bathe
A purely visual mix-up. bate (/beɪt/) 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 60477, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bate is recorded at frequency rank #38,748, classified as averb, pronounced /beɪt/. 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 60477, this pair ranks #99,992 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of bate vs bathe
Shared letters: abet. Private to "bate": -. Private to "bathe": h.
"bate" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "bathe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bate" for "bathe" ever safe?
Frequency check: "bate" vs "bathe" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "bate" 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 #99,992 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bate" and "bathe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bate vs Bau". 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 #99,992 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.