Which to use
“communicable” is an adjective and “communicate” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #36,926
- “communicable” frequency rank
- #5,112
- “communicate” frequency rank
- 42038
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | communicable | communicate |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Able to be transmitted between people or animals. | To impart. |
Where the eye mixes communicable and communicate
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between communicable and communicate
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: communicable is /kəˈmjuːnɪkəbəl/ while communicate is /kəˈmjuːnɪkeɪt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42038, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
communicable is recorded at frequency rank #36,926, classified as anadj, pronounced /kəˈmjuːnɪkəbəl/. communicate is at rank #5,112, tagged as averb, pronounced /kəˈmjuːnɪkeɪt/.
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 42038, this pair ranks #252,872 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of communicable vs communicate
Shared letters: aceimnou. Private to "communicable": bl. Private to "communicate": t.
"communicable" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVCCV · "communicate" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- communicable ← ccommunicable · cmomunicable · commnuicable · commuincable · communciable · communiacble · communicabble · communicabel
- communicate ← ccommunicate · cmomunicate · commnuicate · commuincate · communciate · communiacte · communicaet · communicatte
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "communicable" and "communicate" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "communicable" vs "communicate" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "communicable" and "communicate" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "communicable" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "communicate" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #252,872 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "communicable" and "communicate" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "communicate vs communicative". 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 #252,872 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.