Which to use
“slave” is an adjective and “state” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,563
- “slave” frequency rank
- #10,789
- “state” frequency rank
- 28352
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | slave | state |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Caractéristique des peuples d’Europe centrale ou orientale dont la langue fait partie du groupe des langues slaves. | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de stater. |
Where the eye mixes slave and state
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses slave with state
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: slave is \slav\ while state is \stat\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28352, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
slave is recorded at frequency rank #17,563, classified as anadj, pronounced \slav\. state is at rank #10,789, tagged as averb, pronounced \stat\.
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 28352, this pair ranks #323,362 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of slave vs state
Shared letters: aes. Private to "slave": lv. Private to "state": t.
"slave" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "state" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "slave" for "state" ever safe?
Frequency check: "slave" vs "state" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "slave" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "state" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #323,362 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "slave" and "state" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "slave vs stase". 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 #323,362 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.