Which to use
“shade” and “state” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,548
- “shade” frequency rank
- #163
- “state” frequency rank
- 5711
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shade | state |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Darkness where light, particularly sunlight, is blocked. | A condition; a set of circumstances applying at any given time. |
Where the eye mixes shade and state
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: shade vs state
A purely visual mix-up. shade (/ʃeɪd/) and state (/steɪt/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5711, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shade is recorded at frequency rank #5,548, classified as anoun, pronounced /ʃeɪd/. 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 5711, this pair ranks #514,281 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of shade vs state
Shared letters: aes. Private to "shade": dh. Private to "state": t.
"shade" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "state" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "shade" for "state" ever safe?
Frequency check: "shade" vs "state" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "shade" and "state" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "shade" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "state" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #514,281 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shade" and "state" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "shade vs Shana". 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 #514,281 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.