adaptedvsawaitedConfusable pair

Which to use

“adapted” and “awaited” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#5,383
“adapted” frequency rank
#13,281
“awaited” frequency rank
18664
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature adapted awaited
Definition simple past and past participle of adapt simple past and past participle of await

Where the eye mixes adapted and awaited

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
adapted
7 ch
awaited

Look-alike desk: adapted vs awaited

A purely visual mix-up. adapted (/əˈdæptɪd/) and awaited (/əˈweɪtɪd/) 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 18664, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

adapted is recorded at frequency rank #5,383, classified as averb, pronounced /əˈdæptɪd/. awaited is at rank #13,281, tagged as averb, pronounced /əˈweɪtɪd/.

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 18664, this pair ranks #443,345 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of adapted vs awaited

Shared letters: adet. Private to "adapted": p. Private to "awaited": iw.

"adapted" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC  ·  "awaited" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • adaptedaadpted · adapetd · adappted · adaptde · adaptedd · adaptted · adatped · addapted
  • awaitedaawited · awaietd · awaitde · awaitedd · awaitted · awatied · awiated · awwaited

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "adapted" for "awaited" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/əˈdæptɪd/ versus /əˈweɪtɪd/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "adapted" or "awaited"?
"adapted" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,383 in our English list, against #13,281 for "awaited". 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 "adapted" and "awaited" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "adapted" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "awaited" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #443,345 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "adapted" and "awaited" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abated vs awaited". 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 #443,345 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list