satevsskatedWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“sate” and “skated” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#48,469
“sate” frequency rank
#37,226
“skated” frequency rank
85695
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sate skated
Definition To satisfy the appetite or desire of; to fill up. simple past and past participle of skate

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sate and skated apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
sate
6 ch
skated

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. sate (/seɪt/) and skated (/ˈskeɪtɪd/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 85695, 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/. skated is at rank #37,226, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈskeɪtɪd/.

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 85695, this pair ranks #9,982 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sate vs skated

Shared letters: aest. Private to "sate": -. Private to "skated": dk.

"sate" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "skated" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sateaste · ssate · stae
  • skatedksated · sakted · skaetd · skatde · skatedd · skatted · skkated · sktaed

Frequency comparison

sate#48,469
skated#37,226

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sate" and "skated" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/seɪt/ versus /ˈskeɪtɪd/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "sate" or "skated"?
"skated" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,226 in our English list, against #48,469 for "sate". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering sate vs skated

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “sate” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list