sakevsshameConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#32,392
“sake” frequency rank
#47,411
“shame” frequency rank
79803
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sake shame
Definition Bebida alcohólica producto de la fermentación del arroz, que es tradicional de Japón. Vergüenza.

Where the eye mixes sake and shame

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. sake runs 4 letters (CVCV) against shame's 5 (CCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
sake
5 ch
shame

Visual trap between sake and shame

A purely visual mix-up. sake ([ˈsake]) and shame (/ʃeɪm/) 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 79803, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sake is recorded at frequency rank #32,392, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈsake]. shame is at rank #47,411, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ʃeɪm/.

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 79803, this pair ranks #12,515 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sake vs shame

Shared letters: aes. Private to "sake": k. Private to "shame": hm.

"sake" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "shame" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sake ← aske · saek · sakke · skae · ssake
  • shame ← hsame · sahme · shaem · shamme · shhame · shmae · sshame

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "sake" and "shame" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈsake] versus /ʃeɪm/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "sake" or "shame"?
"sake" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,392 in our Spanish list, against #47,411 for "shame". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "sake" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "shame" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #12,515 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sake" and "shame" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "shall vs shame". 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 #12,515 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