Which to use
“cates” and “coles” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,123
- “cates” frequency rank
- #23,786
- “coles” frequency rank
- 71909
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cates | coles |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Provisions; food; viands; especially, luxurious food; delicacies; dainties. | plural of cole |
Letter map: cates vs coles
Shared letters muted; letters that set cates and coles apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.
Corpus notes: cates and coles
cates and coles are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71909, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cates is recorded at frequency rank #48,123, classified as anoun. coles is at rank #23,786, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kəʊlz/.
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 71909, this pair ranks #44,930 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cates vs coles
Shared letters: ces. Private to "cates": at. Private to "coles": lo.
"cates" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "coles" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cates" for "coles" ever safe?
Frequency check: "cates" vs "coles" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
You've compared "cates" and "coles". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "cates" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "coles" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #44,930 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cates" and "coles" 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
Confusion rank #44,930 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.