sakevsspikeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#32,392
“sake” frequency rank
#28,956
“spike” frequency rank
61348
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes sake and spike

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
sake
5 ch
spike

Why the eye confuses sake with spike

A purely visual mix-up. sake ([ˈsake]) and spike (/spaɪk/) 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 61348, 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]. spike is at rank #28,956, tagged as anoun, pronounced /spaɪk/.

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 61348, this pair ranks #55,755 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sake vs spike

Shared letters: eks. Private to "sake": a. Private to "spike": ip.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sakeaske · saek · sakke · skae · ssake
  • spikepsike · sipke · spiek · spikke · spkie · sppike · sspike

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "sake" for "spike" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈsake] versus /spaɪk/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "sake" or "spike"?
"spike" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,956 in our Spanish list, against #32,392 for "sake". 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 "sake" and "spike" 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 "spike" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #55,755 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sake" and "spike" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sake vs sari". 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 #55,755 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