Which to use
“accepted” and “accessed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,139
- “accepted” frequency rank
- #8,381
- “accessed” frequency rank
- 10520
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | accepted | accessed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of accept | simple past and past participle of access |
Where the eye mixes accepted and accessed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: accepted vs accessed
A purely visual mix-up. accepted (/əkˈsɛp.tɪd/) and accessed (/ˈæksɛst/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10520, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
accepted is recorded at frequency rank #2,139, classified as averb, pronounced /əkˈsɛp.tɪd/. accessed is at rank #8,381, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈæksɛst/.
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 10520, this pair ranks #491,907 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of accepted vs accessed
Shared letters: acde. Private to "accepted": pt. Private to "accessed": s.
"accepted" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "accessed" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "accepted" and "accessed" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "accepted" or "accessed"?
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 "accepted" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "accessed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #491,907 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "accepted" and "accessed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "accessed vs accursed". 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 #491,907 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.