Which to use
“mistake” and “mistaken” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,166
- “mistake” frequency rank
- #7,363
- “mistaken” frequency rank
- 9529
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mistake | mistaken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To understand wrongly, taking one thing or person for another. | past participle of mistake |
Where the eye mixes mistake and mistaken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. mistake runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against mistaken's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses mistake with mistaken
A purely visual mix-up. mistake (/mɪˈsteɪk/) and mistaken (/mɪˈsteɪkn̩/) 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 extra letter(s) - “mistake” sits inside “mistaken”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9529, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mistake is recorded at frequency rank #2,166, classified as averb, pronounced /mɪˈsteɪk/. mistaken is at rank #7,363, tagged as averb, pronounced /mɪˈsteɪkn̩/.
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 9529, this pair ranks #496,942 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mistake vs mistaken
Shared letters: aeikmst. Private to "mistake": -. Private to "mistaken": n.
"mistake" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "mistaken" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mistake" for "mistaken" ever safe?
Frequency check: "mistake" vs "mistaken" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "mistake" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mistaken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #496,942 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mistake" and "mistaken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mistaken vs mistaking". 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 #496,942 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.