Which to use
“mear” is a verb and “merry” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,484
- “mear” frequency rank
- #36,156
- “merry” frequency rank
- 53640
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mear | merry |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Evacuar del organismo la orina u otra secreción a través de la uretra. | Alegre, feliz. |
Where the eye mixes mear and merry
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. mear runs 4 letters (CVVC) against merry's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: mear vs merry
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mear is [meˈaɾ] while merry is /ˈmɛ.ɹi/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53640, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mear is recorded at frequency rank #17,484, classified as averb, pronounced [meˈaɾ]. merry is at rank #36,156, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈmɛ.ɹi/.
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 53640, this pair ranks #86,917 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mear vs merry
Shared letters: emr. Private to "mear": a. Private to "merry": y.
"mear" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "merry" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mear" and "merry" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "mear" or "merry"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mear" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "merry" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #86,917 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mear" and "merry" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "merca vs merry". 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 #86,917 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.