Which to use
“caked” and “cater” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,542
- “caked” frequency rank
- #13,880
- “cater” frequency rank
- 55422
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | caked | cater |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of cake | To provide, particularly |
Where the eye mixes caked and cater
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. caked and cater follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses caked with cater
A purely visual mix-up. caked (/keɪkt/) and cater (/ˈkeɪtə/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55422, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
caked is recorded at frequency rank #41,542, classified as averb, pronounced /keɪkt/. cater is at rank #13,880, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈkeɪtə/.
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 55422, this pair ranks #133,744 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of caked vs cater
Shared letters: ace. Private to "caked": dk. Private to "cater": rt.
"caked" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "cater" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "caked" for "cater" ever safe?
Which is more common, "caked" or "cater"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "caked" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cater" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #133,744 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "caked" and "cater" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caked vs cates". 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 #133,744 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.