meervsmewsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“meer” and “mews” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#45,507
“meer” frequency rank
#43,263
“mews” frequency rank
88770
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature meer mews
Definition A boundary. An alley where there are stables; a narrow passage; a confined place.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set meer and mews apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
meer
4 ch
mews

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. meer (/ˈmɪə(ɹ)/) and mews (/mjuːz/) 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 88770, 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)/. mews is at rank #43,263, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mjuːz/.

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 88770, this pair ranks #5,934 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of meer vs mews

Shared letters: em. Private to "meer": r. Private to "mews": sw.

"meer" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "mews" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • meeremer · meerr · mmeer
  • mewsemws · mesw · mewss · mewws · mmews · mwes

Frequency comparison

meer#45,507
mews#43,263

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "meer" and "mews" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈmɪə(ɹ)/ versus /mjuːz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "meer" or "mews"?
"mews" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #43,263 in our English list, against #45,507 for "meer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering meer vs mews

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “meer” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list