Which to use
“meer” and “metre” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,507
- “meer” frequency rank
- #10,237
- “metre” frequency rank
- 55744
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | meer | metre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A boundary. | The basic unit of length in the International System of Units (SI: Système International d'Unités), equal to the distance travelled by light in a vacuum in 1/299 792 458 seconds. The metre is equal to 39+⁴⁷⁄₁₂₇ (approximately 39.37) imperial inches. |
Where the eye mixes meer and metre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. meer runs 4 letters (CVVC) against metre's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: meer vs metre
A purely visual mix-up. meer (/ˈmɪə(ɹ)/) and metre (/ˈmiːtə/) 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 55744, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
meer is recorded at frequency rank #45,507, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɪə(ɹ)/. metre is at rank #10,237, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmiːtə/.
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 55744, this pair ranks #131,334 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of meer vs metre
Shared letters: emr. Private to "meer": -. Private to "metre": t.
"meer" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "metre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "meer" and "metre" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "meer" vs "metre" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "meer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "metre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #131,334 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "meer" and "metre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "meer 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 #131,334 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.