Which to use
“safe” is an adjective and “state” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #914
- “safe” frequency rank
- #163
- “state” frequency rank
- 1077
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | safe | state |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Not in danger; out of harm's reach. | A condition; a set of circumstances applying at any given time. |
Where the eye mixes safe and state
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: safe is /seɪf/ while state is /steɪt/. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1077, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
safe is recorded at frequency rank #914, classified as anadj, pronounced /seɪf/. state is at rank #163, tagged as anoun, pronounced /steɪt/.
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 1077, this pair ranks #528,153 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of safe vs state
Shared letters: aes. Private to "safe": f. Private to "state": t.
"safe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "state" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV