bastevsbatesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“baste” and “bates” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#43,417
“baste” frequency rank
#23,320
“bates” frequency rank
66737
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature baste bates
Definition Especie de almohadilla que lleva la silla de montar o la albarda en su parte inferior para evitar roces con la caballería. Forma del plural de bate.

Where the eye mixes baste and bates

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
baste
5 ch
bates

Why the eye confuses baste with bates

A purely visual mix-up. baste ([ˈbast̪e]) and bates ([ˈbat̪es]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they are an anagram pair: the same letters reordered. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66737, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

baste is recorded at frequency rank #43,417, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈbast̪e]. bates is at rank #23,320, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈbat̪es].

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 66737, this pair ranks #39,024 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of baste vs bates

Shared letters: abest. Private to "baste": -. Private to "bates": -.

"baste" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "bates" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • basteabste · baset · basste · bastte · bbaste · bsate · vaste
  • batesabtes · baets · batess · batse · battes · bbates · btaes · vates

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "baste" and "bates" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbast̪e] versus [ˈbat̪es]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "baste" or "bates"?
"bates" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,320 in our Spanish list, against #43,417 for "baste". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "baste" and "bates" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "baste" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bates" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #39,024 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "baste" and "bates" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bane vs baste". 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 #39,024 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list