Which to use
“amazed” is an adjective and “amused” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,115
- “amazed” frequency rank
- #14,267
- “amused” frequency rank
- 22382
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | amazed | amused |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Astonished or confounded with fear, surprise, or wonder; greatly surprised (often with ensuing adpositions e.g. at, with, or by). | simple past and past participle of amuse |
Where the eye mixes amazed and amused
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. amazed and amused follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses amazed with amused
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: amazed is /əˈmeɪzd/ while amused is /əˈmjuːzd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22382, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
amazed is recorded at frequency rank #8,115, classified as anadj, pronounced /əˈmeɪzd/. amused is at rank #14,267, tagged as averb, pronounced /əˈmjuːzd/.
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 22382, this pair ranks #416,994 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of amazed vs amused
Shared letters: adem. Private to "amazed": z. Private to "amused": su.
"amazed" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC · "amused" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "amazed" and "amused" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "amazed" vs "amused" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "amazed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "amused" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #416,994 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "amazed" and "amused" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "amused vs amuses". 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 #416,994 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.