Which to use
“adopted” and “adored” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,926
- “adopted” frequency rank
- #19,005
- “adored” frequency rank
- 21931
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | adopted | adored |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of adopt | simple past and past participle of adore |
Where the eye mixes adopted and adored
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses adopted with adored
A purely visual mix-up. adopted (/əˈdɑptɪd/) and adored (/əˈdɔɹd/) 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 21931, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
adopted is recorded at frequency rank #2,926, classified as averb, pronounced /əˈdɑptɪd/. adored is at rank #19,005, tagged as averb, pronounced /əˈdɔɹd/.
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 21931, this pair ranks #420,318 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of adopted vs adored
Shared letters: adeo. Private to "adopted": pt. Private to "adored": r.
"adopted" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC · "adored" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "adopted" and "adored" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "adopted" or "adored"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "adopted" and "adored" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "adopted" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "adored" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #420,318 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "adopted" and "adored" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "addled vs adored". 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 #420,318 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.