Which to use
“mail” and “mask” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,952
- “mail” frequency rank
- #4,251
- “mask” frequency rank
- 6203
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mask | |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A bag or wallet. | A cover, or partial cover, for the face, used for disguise or protection. |
Where the eye mixes mail and mask
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. mail (/meɪl/) and mask (/mɑːsk/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6203, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mail is recorded at frequency rank #1,952, classified as anoun, pronounced /meɪl/. mask is at rank #4,251, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mɑːsk/.
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 6203, this pair ranks #512,343 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mail vs mask
Shared letters: am. Private to "mail": il. Private to "mask": ks.
"mail" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "mask" · 4 letters · shape CVCC