Which to use
“mere” and “merry” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,812
- “mere” frequency rank
- #9,210
- “merry” frequency rank
- 15022
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mere | merry |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Just, only; no more than, pure and simple, neither more nor better than might be expected. | Jolly and full of high spirits; happy. |
Where the eye mixes mere and merry
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses mere with merry
A purely visual mix-up. mere (/mɪə̯/) and merry (/ˈmɛ.ɹi/) 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 15022, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mere is recorded at frequency rank #5,812, classified as anadj, pronounced /mɪə̯/. merry is at rank #9,210, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈmɛ.ɹi/.
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 15022, this pair ranks #466,525 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mere vs merry
Shared letters: emr. Private to "mere": -. Private to "merry": y.
"mere" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "merry" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mere" and "merry" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "mere" or "merry" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "mere" and "merry" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mere" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "merry" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #466,525 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mere" and "merry" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "merry vs myrrh". 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 #466,525 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.