Which to use
“intimate” is an adjective and “intimidate” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,487
- “intimate” frequency rank
- #19,372
- “intimidate” frequency rank
- 25859
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | intimate | intimidate |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Closely acquainted; familiar. | To make timid or afraid; to cause to feel fear or nervousness; to deter, especially by threats of violence. |
Where the eye mixes intimate and intimidate
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: intimate vs intimidate
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: intimate is /ˈɪn.tɪ.mət/ while intimidate is /ɪnˈtɪmɪdeɪt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25859, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
intimate is recorded at frequency rank #6,487, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈɪn.tɪ.mət/. intimidate is at rank #19,372, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɪnˈtɪmɪdeɪt/.
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 25859, this pair ranks #391,102 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of intimate vs intimidate
Shared letters: aeimnt. Private to "intimate": -. Private to "intimidate": d.
"intimate" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV · "intimidate" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- intimate ← initmate · inntimate · intiamte · intimaet · intimatte · intimmate · intimtae · intmiate
- intimidate ← initmidate · inntimidate · intiimdate · intimdiate · intimiadte · intimidaet · intimidatte · intimiddate
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "intimate" and "intimidate" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "intimate" or "intimidate"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "intimate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "intimidate" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #391,102 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "intimate" and "intimidate" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "instigate vs intimate". 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 #391,102 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.