Which to use
“erase” and “evade” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,886
- “erase” frequency rank
- #17,362
- “evade” frequency rank
- 29248
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erase | evade |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To remove (markings or information). | To get away from by cunning; to avoid by using dexterity, subterfuge, address, or ingenuity; to cleverly escape from. |
Where the eye mixes erase and evade
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses erase with evade
A purely visual mix-up. erase (/ɪˈɹeɪs/) and evade (/ɪˈveɪd/) 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 29248, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erase is recorded at frequency rank #11,886, classified as averb, pronounced /ɪˈɹeɪs/. evade is at rank #17,362, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɪˈveɪd/.
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 29248, this pair ranks #364,589 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of erase vs evade
Shared letters: ae. Private to "erase": rs. Private to "evade": dv.
"erase" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "evade" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "erase" for "evade" ever safe?
Frequency check: "erase" vs "evade" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "erase" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "evade" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #364,589 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erase" and "evade" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "etude vs evade". 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 #364,589 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.