Which to use
“annihilate” is a verb and “annihilated” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #33,513
- “annihilate” frequency rank
- #29,914
- “annihilated” frequency rank
- 63427
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | annihilate | annihilated |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate. | Having been utterly destroyed. |
Letter map: annihilate vs annihilated
Shared letters muted; letters that set annihilate and annihilated apart highlighted. Shared run: 10.
Role in the sentence - annihilate and annihilated
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: annihilate is averb and annihilatedanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “annihilate” sits inside “annihilated”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63427, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
annihilate is recorded at frequency rank #33,513, classified as averb, pronounced /əˈnaɪ.ə.leɪt/. annihilated is at rank #29,914, tagged as anadj.
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 63427, this pair ranks #83,042 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of annihilate vs annihilated
Shared letters: aehilnt. Private to "annihilate": -. Private to "annihilated": d.
"annihilate" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCVCV · "annihilated" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- annihilate ← anihilate · aninhilate · annhiilate · annihhilate · annihialte · annihilaet · annihilatte · annihillate
- annihilated ← anihilated · aninhilated · annhiilated · annihhilated · annihialted · annihilaetd · annihilatde · annihilatedd
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "annihilate" and "annihilated" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "annihilate" or "annihilated"?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "annihilate" and "annihilated".
- Full dictionary entry for "annihilate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "annihilated" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #83,042 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- 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 #83,042 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.