Which to use
“mature” is an adjective and “measure” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,467
- “mature” frequency rank
- #2,261
- “measure” frequency rank
- 6728
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mature | measure |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Fully developed; grown up in terms of physical appearance, behaviour or thinking; ripe. | A prescribed quantity or extent. |
Where the eye mixes mature and measure
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. mature runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against measure's 7 (CVVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between mature and measure
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mature is /məˈt͡ʃɔː(ɹ)/ while measure is /ˈmɛʒ.ə/. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6728, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mature is recorded at frequency rank #4,467, classified as anadj, pronounced /məˈt͡ʃɔː(ɹ)/. measure is at rank #2,261, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɛʒ.ə/.
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 6728, this pair ranks #510,224 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mature vs measure
Shared letters: aemru. Private to "mature": t. Private to "measure": s.
"mature" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "measure" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mature" and "measure" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "mature" vs "measure" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "mature" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "measure" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #510,224 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mature" and "measure" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mature vs Maurer". 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 #510,224 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.