Which to use
“compete” and “competes” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,678
- “compete” frequency rank
- #21,756
- “competes” frequency rank
- 25434
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | compete | competes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To be in battle or in a rivalry with another for the same thing, position, or reward; to contend. | third-person singular simple present indicative of compete |
Where the eye mixes compete and competes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. compete runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against competes's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between compete and competes
A purely visual mix-up. compete (/kəmˈpiːt/) and competes (/kəmˈpiːts/) 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 extra letter(s) - “compete” sits inside “competes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25434, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
compete is recorded at frequency rank #3,678, classified as averb, pronounced /kəmˈpiːt/. competes is at rank #21,756, tagged as averb, pronounced /kəmˈpiːts/.
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 25434, this pair ranks #394,316 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of compete vs competes
Shared letters: cemopt. Private to "compete": -. Private to "competes": s.
"compete" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "competes" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "compete" for "competes" ever safe?
Frequency check: "compete" vs "competes" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "compete" and "competes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "compete" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "competes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #394,316 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "compete" and "competes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "compels vs competes". 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 #394,316 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.