Which to use
“undue” and “unique” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,003
- “undue” frequency rank
- #1,845
- “unique” frequency rank
- 21848
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | undue | unique |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Excessive; going beyond that what is natural or sufficient. | Being the only one of its kind; unequaled, unparalleled or unmatched. |
Where the eye mixes undue and unique
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. undue runs 5 letters (VCCVV) against unique's 6 (VCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses undue with unique
A purely visual mix-up. undue (/ʌnˈdjuː/) and unique (/juːˈniːk/) 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 21848, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
undue is recorded at frequency rank #20,003, classified as anadj, pronounced /ʌnˈdjuː/. unique is at rank #1,845, tagged as anadj, pronounced /juːˈniːk/.
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 21848, this pair ranks #420,901 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of undue vs unique
Shared letters: enu. Private to "undue": d. Private to "unique": iq.
"undue" · 5 letters · shape VCCVV · "unique" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "undue" for "unique" ever safe?
Which is more common, "undue" or "unique"?
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 "undue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "unique" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #420,901 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "undue" and "unique" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "undue vs unsee". 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 #420,901 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.