Which to use
“mec” and “mercy” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #42,770
- “mec” frequency rank
- #4,691
- “mercy” frequency rank
- 47461
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mec | mercy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Clipping of meconium. | Relenting; forbearance to cause or allow harm to another. |
Letter map: mec vs mercy
Shared letters muted; letters that set mec and mercy apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. mec runs 3 letters (CVC) against mercy's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Corpus notes: mec and mercy
mec and mercy are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47461, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mec is recorded at frequency rank #42,770, classified as anoun. mercy is at rank #4,691, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɜːsi/.
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 47461, this pair ranks #202,225 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mec vs mercy
Shared letters: cem. Private to "mec": -. Private to "mercy": ry.
"mec" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "mercy" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- mercy ← emrcy · mecry · merccy · mercyy · merrcy · meryc · mmercy · mrecy
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mec" and "mercy" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "mec" vs "mercy" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "mec" and "mercy".
- Full dictionary entry for "mec" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mercy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #202,225 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mec" and "mercy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mec vs MMP". 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 #202,225 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.