Which to use
“commute” and “compete” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,687
- “commute” frequency rank
- #3,678
- “compete” frequency rank
- 17365
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | commute | compete |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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 | To be in battle or in a rivalry with another for the same thing, position, or reward; to contend. |
Where the eye mixes commute and compete
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: commute vs compete
A purely visual mix-up. commute (/kəˈmjuːt/) and compete (/kəmˈpiːt/) 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 17365, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
commute is recorded at frequency rank #13,687, classified as averb, pronounced /kəˈmjuːt/. compete is at rank #3,678, tagged as averb, pronounced /kəmˈpiːt/.
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 17365, this pair ranks #451,902 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of commute vs compete
Shared letters: cemot. Private to "commute": u. Private to "compete": p.
"commute" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "compete" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "commute" and "compete" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "commute" vs "compete" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "commute" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "compete" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #451,902 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "commute" and "compete" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "commute vs comte". 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 #451,902 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.