Which to use
“maimed” is an adjective and “mated” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #36,651
- “maimed” frequency rank
- #32,074
- “mated” frequency rank
- 68725
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maimed | mated |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partially or wholly deprived of the use of some part of the body, usually by wounding or injury. | simple past and past participle of mate |
Where the eye mixes maimed and mated
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. maimed runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against mated's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: maimed vs mated
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: maimed is /meɪmd/ while mated is /ˈmeɪtɪd/. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68725, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
maimed is recorded at frequency rank #36,651, classified as anadj, pronounced /meɪmd/. mated is at rank #32,074, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈmeɪtɪd/.
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 68725, this pair ranks #57,616 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of maimed vs mated
Shared letters: adem. Private to "maimed": i. Private to "mated": t.
"maimed" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "mated" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "maimed" and "mated" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "maimed" or "mated" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "maimed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mated" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #57,616 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maimed" and "mated" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maim vs maimed". 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 #57,616 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.