Which to use
“annoy” and “annoyed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,747
- “annoy” frequency rank
- #7,646
- “annoyed” frequency rank
- 23393
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | annoy | annoyed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To disturb or irritate, especially by continued or repeated acts; to bother with unpleasant deeds. | simple past and past participle of annoy |
Where the eye mixes annoy and annoyed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between annoy and annoyed
A purely visual mix-up. annoy (/əˈnɔɪ/) 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 differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “annoy” sits inside “annoyed”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23393, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
annoy is recorded at frequency rank #15,747, classified as averb, pronounced /əˈnɔɪ/. 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 23393, this pair ranks #409,607 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of annoy vs annoyed
Shared letters: anoy. Private to "annoy": -. Private to "annoyed": de.
"annoy" · 5 letters · shape VCCVV · "annoyed" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "annoy" and "annoyed" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "annoy" or "annoyed"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "annoy" 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 #409,607 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "annoy" and "annoyed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Anjou vs annoy". 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 #409,607 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.