Which to use
“masses” and “mates” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,814
- “masses” frequency rank
- #7,248
- “mates” frequency rank
- 15062
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | masses | mates |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of mass | plural of mate |
Where the eye mixes masses and mates
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses masses with mates
A purely visual mix-up. masses (/ˈmæs.ɪz/) and mates (/meɪts/) 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 15062, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
masses is recorded at frequency rank #7,814, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmæs.ɪz/. mates is at rank #7,248, tagged as anoun, pronounced /meɪts/.
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 15062, this pair ranks #466,290 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of masses vs mates
Shared letters: aems. Private to "masses": -. Private to "mates": t.
"masses" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "mates" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "masses" and "mates" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "masses" vs "mates" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "masses" and "mates" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "masses" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mates" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #466,290 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "masses" and "mates" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "masses vs Massie". 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 #466,290 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.