Which to use
“mated” and “mowed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,074
- “mated” frequency rank
- #38,509
- “mowed” frequency rank
- 70583
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mated | mowed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of mate | simple past and past participle of mow |
Where the eye mixes mated and mowed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. mated and mowed follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between mated and mowed
A purely visual mix-up. mated (/ˈmeɪtɪd/) and mowed (/məʊd/) 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 70583, 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/. mowed is at rank #38,509, tagged as averb, pronounced /məʊd/.
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 70583, this pair ranks #49,991 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of mated vs mowed
Shared letters: dem. Private to "mated": at. Private to "mowed": ow.
"mated" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "mowed" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mated" for "mowed" ever safe?
Which is more common, "mated" or "mowed"?
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 "mated" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mowed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #49,991 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mated" and "mowed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mowed vs Mowers". 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 #49,991 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.