Which to use
“gale” and “gazes” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,607
- “gale” frequency rank
- #46,480
- “gazes” frequency rank
- 59087
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gale | gazes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To cry; groan; croak. | third-person singular simple present indicative of gaze |
Where the eye mixes gale and gazes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. gale 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.
Visual trap between gale and gazes
A purely visual mix-up. gale (/ɡeɪl/) 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 59087, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gale is recorded at frequency rank #12,607, classified as averb, pronounced /ɡeɪl/. 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 59087, this pair ranks #108,408 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of gale vs gazes
Shared letters: aeg. Private to "gale": l. Private to "gazes": sz.
"gale" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "gazes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "gale" and "gazes" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "gale" or "gazes"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "gale" 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 #108,408 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gale" 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 #108,408 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.