Which to use
“attack” is a noun and “attacked” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #842
- “attack” frequency rank
- #2,874
- “attacked” frequency rank
- 3716
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | attack | attacked |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An attempt to cause damage, injury to, or death of an opponent or enemy. | simple past and past participle of attack |
Where the eye mixes attack and attacked
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses attack with attacked
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: attack is /əˈtæk/ while attacked is /əˈtækt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “attack” sits inside “attacked”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3716, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
attack is recorded at frequency rank #842, classified as anoun, pronounced /əˈtæk/. attacked is at rank #2,874, tagged as averb, pronounced /əˈtækt/.
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 3716, this pair ranks #521,215 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of attack vs attacked
Shared letters: ackt. Private to "attack": -. Private to "attacked": de.
"attack" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC · "attacked" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "attack" and "attacked" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "attack" vs "attacked" - 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 "attack" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "attacked" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #521,215 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "attack" and "attacked" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "attaché vs attacked". 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 #521,215 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.