Which to use
“sate” and “shake” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,469
- “sate” frequency rank
- #4,121
- “shake” frequency rank
- 52590
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sate | shake |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To satisfy the appetite or desire of; to fill up. | To cause (something) to move rapidly in opposite directions alternatingly. |
Where the eye mixes sate and shake
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. sate runs 4 letters (CVCV) against shake's 5 (CCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: sate vs shake
A purely visual mix-up. sate (/seɪt/) and shake (/ˈʃeɪk/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52590, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sate is recorded at frequency rank #48,469, classified as averb, pronounced /seɪt/. shake is at rank #4,121, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈʃeɪk/.
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 52590, this pair ranks #155,800 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sate vs shake
Shared letters: aes. Private to "sate": t. Private to "shake": hk.
"sate" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "shake" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sate" for "shake" ever safe?
Which is more common, "sate" or "shake"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "sate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "shake" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #155,800 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sate" and "shake" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "saki vs sate". 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 #155,800 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.