Which to use
“sedate” is an adjective and “sesame” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,081
- “sedate” frequency rank
- #15,903
- “sesame” frequency rank
- 54984
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sedate | sesame |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Remaining composed and dignified, and avoiding too much activity or excitement. | A tropical Asian plant (Sesamum indicum) bearing small flat seeds used as food and as a source of oil. |
Where the eye mixes sedate and sesame
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. sedate and sesame follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses sedate with sesame
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sedate is /sɪˈdeɪt/ while sesame is /ˈsɛsəmi/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54984, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sedate is recorded at frequency rank #39,081, classified as anadj, pronounced /sɪˈdeɪt/. sesame is at rank #15,903, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɛsəmi/.
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 54984, this pair ranks #137,002 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sedate vs sesame
Shared letters: aes. Private to "sedate": dt. Private to "sesame": m.
"sedate" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "sesame" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "sedate" and "sesame" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "sedate" or "sesame" show up more?
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 "sedate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sesame" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #137,002 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sedate" and "sesame" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sate vs sedate". 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 #137,002 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.