Which to use
“teared” and “tease” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #47,956
- “teared” frequency rank
- #13,253
- “tease” frequency rank
- 61209
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | teared | tease |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of tear (“produce liquid from the eyes”) | To separate the fibres of (a fibrous material). |
Where the eye mixes teared and tease
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: teared vs tease
A purely visual mix-up. teared (/tɪə(ɹ)d/) and tease (/tiːz/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61209, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
teared is recorded at frequency rank #47,956, classified as averb, pronounced /tɪə(ɹ)d/. tease is at rank #13,253, tagged as averb, pronounced /tiːz/.
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 61209, this pair ranks #95,541 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of teared vs tease
Shared letters: aet. Private to "teared": dr. Private to "tease": s.
"teared" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "tease" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "teared" and "tease" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "teared" or "tease"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "teared" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tease" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #95,541 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "teared" and "tease" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "teared vs thawed". 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 #95,541 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.