Which to use
“mike” and “mode” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,665
- “mike” frequency rank
- #2,357
- “mode” frequency rank
- 4022
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mike | mode |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A microphone. | One of several common scales in modern Western music, one of which corresponds to the modern major scale and one to the natural minor scale. |
Where the eye mixes mike and mode
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses mike with mode
A purely visual mix-up. mike (/ˈmaɪk/) and mode (/moʊd/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4022, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mike is recorded at frequency rank #1,665, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmaɪk/. mode is at rank #2,357, tagged as anoun, pronounced /moʊd/.
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 4022, this pair ranks #520,250 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mike vs mode
Shared letters: em. Private to "mike": ik. Private to "mode": do.
"mike" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "mode" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mike" and "mode" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "mike" vs "mode" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "mike" and "mode" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mike" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mode" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #520,250 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mike" and "mode" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mode vs Moog". 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 #520,250 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.