Which to use
“gage” and “gazes” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,805
- “gage” frequency rank
- #46,480
- “gazes” frequency rank
- 68285
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gage | gazes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To bind (someone) by pledge or security; to engage. | third-person singular simple present indicative of gaze |
Where the eye mixes gage and gazes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. gage runs 4 letters (CVCV) against gazes's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: gage vs gazes
A purely visual mix-up. gage (/ɡeɪd͡ʒ/) and gazes (/ˈɡeɪ.zɪz/) 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 68285, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gage is recorded at frequency rank #21,805, classified as averb, pronounced /ɡeɪd͡ʒ/. gazes is at rank #46,480, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈɡeɪ.zɪz/.
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 68285, this pair ranks #59,583 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of gage vs gazes
Shared letters: aeg. Private to "gage": -. Private to "gazes": sz.
"gage" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "gazes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "gage" for "gazes" ever safe?
Which is more common, "gage" or "gazes"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "gage" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gazes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #59,583 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gage" and "gazes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gazes vs glazer". 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 #59,583 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.