Which to use
“shamed” and “skated” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,215
- “shamed” frequency rank
- #37,226
- “skated” frequency rank
- 59441
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shamed | skated |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of shame | simple past and past participle of skate |
Where the eye mixes shamed and skated
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. shamed and skated follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses shamed with skated
A purely visual mix-up. shamed (/ʃeɪmd/) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59441, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shamed is recorded at frequency rank #22,215, classified as averb, pronounced /ʃeɪmd/. 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 59441, this pair ranks #106,149 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of shamed vs skated
Shared letters: ades. Private to "shamed": hm. Private to "skated": kt.
"shamed" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "skated" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "shamed" and "skated" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "shamed" vs "skated" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "shamed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "skated" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #106,149 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shamed" and "skated" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "skated vs skirted". 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 #106,149 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.