matedvsmiredConfusable pair

Quick tell: mated is a verb, mired is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“mated” is a verb and “mired” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#32,074
“mated” frequency rank
#36,669
“mired” frequency rank
68743
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mated mired
Definition simple past and past participle of mate A unit of measurement for color temperature.

Letter map: mated vs mired

Shared letters muted; letters that set mated and mired apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

5 ch
mated
5 ch
mired

Grammar separator: mated vs mired

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: mated is averb and miredanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68743, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mated is recorded at frequency rank #32,074, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈmeɪtɪd/. mired is at rank #36,669, tagged as anoun.

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 68743, this pair ranks #57,520 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of mated vs mired

Shared letters: dem. Private to "mated": at. Private to "mired": ir.

"mated" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "mired" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • matedamted · maetd · matde · matedd · mmated · mtaed
  • miredimred · mierd · mirde · miredd · mirred · mmired · mried

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "mated" and "mired" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mated" is a verb and "mired" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary English text, does "mated" or "mired" show up more?
"mated" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,074 in our English list, against #36,669 for "mired". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pair "mated" vs "mired" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mated" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mired" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #57,520 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mated" and "mired" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mired vs miser". 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 #57,520 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list