gatewayvsgetawayWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“gateway” and “getaway” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#9,185
“gateway” frequency rank
#14,764
“getaway” frequency rank
23949
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gateway getaway
Definition A passage that can be closed by use of a gate. A means of escape.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set gateway and getaway apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
gateway
7 ch
getaway

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

gateway and getaway are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they are an anagram pair: the same letters reordered. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23949, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gateway is recorded at frequency rank #9,185, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɡeɪtˌweɪ/. getaway is at rank #14,764, tagged as anoun.

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 23949, this pair ranks #405,612 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gateway vs getaway

Shared letters: aegtwy. Private to "gateway": -. Private to "getaway": -.

"gateway" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV  ·  "getaway" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gatewayagteway · gaetway · gateawy · gatewayy · gatewway · gatewya · gatteway · gatweay
  • getawayegtaway · geatway · getaawy · getawayy · getawway · getawya · gettaway · getwaay

Frequency comparison

gateway#9,185
getaway#14,764

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gateway" and "getaway" be used interchangeably?
No. They are an anagram pair: the same letters reordered, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "gateway" or "getaway"?
"gateway" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,185 in our English list, against #14,764 for "getaway". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering gateway vs getaway

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “gateway” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list