Which to use
“avert” is a verb and “averted” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #24,090
- “avert” frequency rank
- #26,335
- “averted” frequency rank
- 50425
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | avert | averted |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To turn aside or away. | Turned away, especially as an expression of feeling. |
Where the eye mixes avert and averted
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses avert with averted
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: avert is /əˈvɝt/ while averted is /əˈvɝtɪd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “avert” sits inside “averted”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50425, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
avert is recorded at frequency rank #24,090, classified as averb, pronounced /əˈvɝt/. averted is at rank #26,335, tagged as anadj, pronounced /əˈvɝtɪd/.
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 50425, this pair ranks #174,390 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of avert vs averted
Shared letters: aertv. Private to "avert": -. Private to "averted": d.
"avert" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC · "averted" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "avert" and "averted" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "avert" or "averted"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "avert" and "averted" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "avert" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "averted" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #174,390 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "avert" and "averted" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abetted vs averted". 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 #174,390 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.