Which to use
“wade” and “waved” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,409
- “wade” frequency rank
- #14,250
- “waved” frequency rank
- 21659
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | wade | waved |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To walk through water or something that impedes progress. | simple past and past participle of wave |
Where the eye mixes wade and waved
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between wade and waved
A purely visual mix-up. wade (/weɪd/) and waved (/weɪvd/) 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 21659, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
wade is recorded at frequency rank #7,409, classified as averb, pronounced /weɪd/. waved is at rank #14,250, tagged as averb, pronounced /weɪvd/.
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 21659, this pair ranks #422,311 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of wade vs waved
Shared letters: adew. Private to "wade": -. Private to "waved": v.
"wade" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "waved" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "wade" for "waved" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "wade" or "waved" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "wade" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "waved" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #422,311 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "wade" and "waved" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "waved vs wove". 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 #422,311 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.