shadevsshameWhat's the difference?

By · Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org ·

Which to use

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

#35,345
“shade” frequency rank
#36,228
“shame” frequency rank
71573
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature shade shame
Definition sombra vergonha; desonra

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set shade and shame apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
shade
5 ch
shame

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

shade and shame are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by a single letter - d in “shade” becomes m in “shame”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71573, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

shade is recorded at frequency rank #35,345, classified as anoun. shame is at rank #36,228, 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 71573, this pair ranks #3,299 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of shade vs shame

Shared letters: aehs. Private to "shade": d. Private to "shame": m.

"shade" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "shame" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • shade ← hsade · sahde · shadde · shaed · shdae · shhade · sshade
  • shame ← hsame · sahme · shaem · shamme · shhame · shmae · sshame

Frequency comparison

shade#35,345
shame#36,228

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "shade" and "shame" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by a single letter - d in “shade” becomes m in “shame”, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "shade" or "shame"?
"shade" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,345 in our Portuguese list, against #36,228 for "shame". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering shade vs shame

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “shade” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list