Which to use
“octave” and “outage” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,191
- “octave” frequency rank
- #20,727
- “outage” frequency rank
- 46918
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | octave | outage |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An interval of twelve semitones spanning eight degrees of the diatonic scale, representing a doubling or halving in pitch frequency. | A temporary suspension of operation, especially of electrical power supply. |
Where the eye mixes octave and outage
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. octave (VCCVCV) and outage (VVCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: octave vs outage
A purely visual mix-up. octave (/ˈɒktɪv/) and outage (/ˈaʊ.tɪd͡ʒ/) 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 46918, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
octave is recorded at frequency rank #26,191, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɒktɪv/. outage is at rank #20,727, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈaʊ.tɪd͡ʒ/.
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 46918, this pair ranks #207,272 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of octave vs outage
Shared letters: aeot. Private to "octave": cv. Private to "outage": gu.
"octave" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV · "outage" · 6 letters · shape VVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "octave" and "outage" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "octave" or "outage"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "octave" and "outage" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "octave" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "outage" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #207,272 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "octave" and "outage" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Otago vs outage". 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 #207,272 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.