Which to use
“allege” and “alleged” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,884
- “allege” frequency rank
- #3,797
- “alleged” frequency rank
- 26681
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | allege | alleged |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To state under oath, to plead. | simple past and past participle of allege |
Where the eye mixes allege and alleged
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. allege runs 6 letters (VCCVCV) against alleged's 7 (VCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: allege vs alleged
A purely visual mix-up. allege (/əˈlɛd͡ʒ/) and alleged (/əˈlɛdʒd/) 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 extra letter(s) - “allege” sits inside “alleged”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26681, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
allege is recorded at frequency rank #22,884, classified as averb, pronounced /əˈlɛd͡ʒ/. alleged is at rank #3,797, tagged as averb, pronounced /əˈlɛdʒd/.
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 26681, this pair ranks #384,878 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of allege vs alleged
Shared letters: aegl. Private to "allege": -. Private to "alleged": d.
"allege" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV · "alleged" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "allege" and "alleged" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "allege" or "alleged" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "allege" and "alleged" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "allege" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "alleged" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #384,878 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "allege" and "alleged" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "allege vs Allegra". 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 #384,878 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.