# melee vs mere

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### melee
*noun · IPA /ˈmɛˌleɪ/ · frequency rank #21,859*
A battle fought at close range, (especially) one not involving ranged weapons; hand-to-hand combat; brawling.

### mere
*adjective · IPA /mɪə̯/ · frequency rank #5,812*
Just, only; no more than, pure and simple, neither more nor better than might be expected.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/melee-vs-mere