Which to use
“cable” and “cradle” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,776
- “cable” frequency rank
- #14,927
- “cradle” frequency rank
- 17703
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cable | cradle |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A long object used to make a physical connection. | A bed or cot for a baby, oscillating on rockers or swinging on pivots. |
Where the eye mixes cable and cradle
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses cable with cradle
A purely visual mix-up. cable (/ˈkeɪ.bəl/) and cradle (/ˈkɹeɪdəl/) 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 17703, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cable is recorded at frequency rank #2,776, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkeɪ.bəl/. cradle is at rank #14,927, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɹeɪdəl/.
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 17703, this pair ranks #449,684 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cable vs cradle
Shared letters: acel. Private to "cable": b. Private to "cradle": dr.
"cable" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "cradle" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cable" and "cradle" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "cable" vs "cradle" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cable" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cradle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #449,684 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cable" and "cradle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cradle vs curable". 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 #449,684 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.