Which to use
“mace” and “mic” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,879
- “mace” frequency rank
- #9,498
- “mic” frequency rank
- 28377
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mace | mic |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A heavy fighting club. | Alternative form of mike (“microphone”). |
Where the eye mixes mace and mic
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between mace and mic
A purely visual mix-up. mace (/meɪs/) and mic (/ˈmaɪk/) 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 28377, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mace is recorded at frequency rank #18,879, classified as anoun, pronounced /meɪs/. mic is at rank #9,498, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmaɪk/.
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 28377, this pair ranks #371,538 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mace vs mic
Shared letters: cm. Private to "mace": ae. Private to "mic": i.
"mace" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "mic" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- mace ← amce · macce · maec · mcae · mmace
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mace" for "mic" ever safe?
Frequency check: "mace" vs "mic" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "mace" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mic" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #371,538 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mace" and "mic" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mace vs Marne". 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 #371,538 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.