Which to use
“metre” and “mettle” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,237
- “metre” frequency rank
- #40,798
- “mettle” frequency rank
- 51035
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | metre | mettle |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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. | A quality of courage and endurance. |
Where the eye mixes metre and mettle
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses metre with mettle
A purely visual mix-up. metre (/ˈmiːtə/) and mettle (/ˈmɛtəl/) 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 51035, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
metre is recorded at frequency rank #10,237, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmiːtə/. mettle is at rank #40,798, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɛtəl/.
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 51035, this pair ranks #168,964 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of metre vs mettle
Shared letters: emt. Private to "metre": r. Private to "mettle": l.
"metre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "mettle" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "metre" for "mettle" ever safe?
Frequency check: "metre" vs "mettle" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "metre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mettle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #168,964 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "metre" and "mettle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mettle vs mottled". 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 #168,964 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.