Which to use
“mean” and “mete” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,352
- “mean” frequency rank
- #4,923
- “mete” frequency rank
- 30275
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mean | mete |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de mear. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de meter o de meterse. |
Where the eye mixes mean and mete
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between mean and mete
A purely visual mix-up. mean ([ˈmeãn]) and mete ([ˈmet̪e]) 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 30275, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mean is recorded at frequency rank #25,352, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmeãn]. mete is at rank #4,923, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmet̪e].
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 30275, this pair ranks #212,791 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mean vs mete
Shared letters: em. Private to "mean": an. Private to "mete": t.
"mean" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "mete" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mean" and "mete" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "mean" or "mete"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "mean" and "mete" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mean" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mete" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #212,791 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mean" and "mete" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mean vs means". 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 #212,791 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.