Which to use
“bates” and “bathed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,189
- “bates” frequency rank
- #24,389
- “bathed” frequency rank
- 36578
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bates | bathed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of bate | simple past and past participle of bathe |
Where the eye mixes bates and bathed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between bates and bathed
A purely visual mix-up. bates (/beɪts/) and bathed (/beɪðd/) 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 36578, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bates is recorded at frequency rank #12,189, classified as averb, pronounced /beɪts/. bathed is at rank #24,389, tagged as averb, pronounced /beɪðd/.
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 36578, this pair ranks #301,966 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bates vs bathed
Shared letters: abet. Private to "bates": s. Private to "bathed": dh.
"bates" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "bathed" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "bates" and "bathed" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "bates" vs "bathed" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "bates" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bathed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #301,966 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bates" and "bathed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bathed vs butted". 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 #301,966 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.