Which to use
“metre” and “mote” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,237
- “metre” frequency rank
- #45,526
- “mote” frequency rank
- 55763
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | metre | mote |
|---|---|---|
| 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 small particle; a speck. |
Where the eye mixes metre and mote
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. metre runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against mote's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses metre with mote
A purely visual mix-up. metre (/ˈmiːtə/) and mote (/moʊt/) 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 55763, 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/. mote is at rank #45,526, tagged as anoun, pronounced /moʊt/.
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 55763, this pair ranks #131,171 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of metre vs mote
Shared letters: emt. Private to "metre": r. Private to "mote": o.
"metre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "mote" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "metre" for "mote" ever safe?
Which is more common, "metre" or "mote"?
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 "metre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mote" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #131,171 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "metre" and "mote" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Moog vs mote". 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 #131,171 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.