Which to use
“commit” and “commute” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,067
- “commit” frequency rank
- #13,687
- “commute” frequency rank
- 17754
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | commit | commute |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To give in trust; to put into charge or keeping; to entrust; to consign; used with to or formerly unto. | To exchange substantially; to abate but not abolish completely, a penalty, obligation, or payment in return for a great, single thing or an aggregate; to cash in; to lessen |
Where the eye mixes commit and commute
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses commit with commute
A purely visual mix-up. commit (/kəˈmɪt/) and commute (/kəˈmjuːt/) 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 17754, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
commit is recorded at frequency rank #4,067, classified as averb, pronounced /kəˈmɪt/. commute is at rank #13,687, tagged as averb, pronounced /kəˈmjuːt/.
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 17754, this pair ranks #449,377 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of commit vs commute
Shared letters: cmot. Private to "commit": i. Private to "commute": eu.
"commit" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "commute" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "commit" and "commute" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "commit" or "commute"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "commit" and "commute" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "commit" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "commute" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #449,377 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "commit" and "commute" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "comming vs commit". 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 #449,377 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.