annexedvsannoyedTell them apart

Which to use

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

#14,884
“annexed” frequency rank
#7,646
“annoyed” frequency rank
22530
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature annexed annoyed
Definition simple past and past participle of annex simple past and past participle of annoy

Where the eye mixes annexed and annoyed

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. annexed (VCCVCVC) and annoyed (VCCVVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
annexed
7 ch
annoyed

Why the eye confuses annexed with annoyed

A purely visual mix-up. annexed (/ˈænɛkst/) and annoyed (/əˈnɔɪd/) 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 22530, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

annexed is recorded at frequency rank #14,884, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈænɛkst/. annoyed is at rank #7,646, tagged as averb, pronounced /əˈnɔɪd/.

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 22530, this pair ranks #415,897 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of annexed vs annoyed

Shared letters: aden. Private to "annexed": x. Private to "annoyed": oy.

"annexed" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "annoyed" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • annexed ← anenxed · anexed · anneexd · annexde · annexedd · annexxed · annxeed · nanexed
  • annoyed ← annoeyd · annoyde · annoyedd · annoyyed · annyoed · anonyed · anoyed · nanoyed

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "annexed" and "annoyed" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈænɛkst/ versus /əˈnɔɪd/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary English text, does "annexed" or "annoyed" show up more?
"annoyed" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,646 in our English list, against #14,884 for "annexed". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "annexed" and "annoyed" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "annexed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "annoyed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #415,897 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "annexed" and "annoyed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "annex vs annexed". 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 #415,897 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