Which to use
“indicate” is a verb and “indicator” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,952
- “indicate” frequency rank
- #8,048
- “indicator” frequency rank
- 12000
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | indicate | indicator |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To point out; to discover; to direct to a knowledge of; to show; to make known. | A pointer or index that indicates something. |
Where the eye mixes indicate and indicator
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between indicate and indicator
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: indicate is /ˈɪndɪˌkeɪt/ while indicator is /ˈɪn.dɪˌkeɪ.tə(ɹ)/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12000, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
indicate is recorded at frequency rank #3,952, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈɪndɪˌkeɪt/. indicator is at rank #8,048, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɪn.dɪˌkeɪ.tə(ɹ)/.
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 12000, this pair ranks #483,973 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of indicate vs indicator
Shared letters: acdint. Private to "indicate": e. Private to "indicator": or.
"indicate" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV · "indicator" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "indicate" for "indicator" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "indicate" or "indicator" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "indicate" and "indicator" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "indicate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "indicator" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #483,973 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "indicate" and "indicator" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "indicate vs indict". 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 #483,973 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.