Which to use
“metre” is a noun and “mute” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,237
- “metre” frequency rank
- #11,919
- “mute” frequency rank
- 22156
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | metre | mute |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Not having the power of speech; dumb. |
Where the eye mixes metre and mute
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses metre with mute
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: metre is /ˈmiːtə/ while mute is /mjuːt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22156, 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/. mute is at rank #11,919, tagged as anadj, pronounced /mjuːt/.
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 22156, this pair ranks #418,655 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of metre vs mute
Shared letters: emt. Private to "metre": r. Private to "mute": u.
"metre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "mute" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "metre" and "mute" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "metre" or "mute"?
Useful next steps
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 "mute" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #418,655 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "metre" and "mute" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "muda vs mute". 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 #418,655 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.