Which to use
“sate” is a verb and “spade” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,469
- “sate” frequency rank
- #18,960
- “spade” frequency rank
- 67429
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sate | spade |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To satisfy the appetite or desire of; to fill up. | A garden tool with a handle and a flat blade for digging. Not to be confused with a shovel which is used for moving earth or other materials. |
Where the eye mixes sate and spade
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses sate with spade
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sate is /seɪt/ while spade is /speɪ̯d/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67429, 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/. spade is at rank #18,960, tagged as anoun, pronounced /speɪ̯d/.
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 67429, this pair ranks #63,390 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of sate vs spade
Shared letters: aes. Private to "sate": t. Private to "spade": dp.
"sate" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "spade" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "sate" and "spade" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "sate" or "spade" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "sate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spade" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #63,390 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sate" and "spade" 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 #63,390 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.