Which to use
“cater” is a verb and “catty” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,880
- “cater” frequency rank
- #49,246
- “catty” frequency rank
- 63126
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cater | catty |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To provide, particularly | With subtle hostility in an effort to hurt, annoy, or upset, particularly among women. |
Where the eye mixes cater and catty
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cater is /ˈkeɪtə/ while catty is /ˈkæti/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63126, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cater is recorded at frequency rank #13,880, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈkeɪtə/. catty is at rank #49,246, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈkæti/.
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 63126, this pair ranks #84,723 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cater vs catty
Shared letters: act. Private to "cater": er. Private to "catty": y.
"cater" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "catty" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cater" and "catty" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "cater" or "catty"?
What to do next
You've compared "cater" and "catty". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "cater" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "catty" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #84,723 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cater" and "catty" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cates vs catty". 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
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.