Which to use
“avoid” and “avowed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,416
- “avoid” frequency rank
- #43,515
- “avowed” frequency rank
- 44931
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | avoid | avowed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To try not to meet or communicate with (a person); to shun. | simple past and past participle of avow |
Where the eye mixes avoid and avowed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between avoid and avowed
A purely visual mix-up. avoid (/əˈvɔɪd/) and avowed (/əˈvaʊd/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44931, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
avoid is recorded at frequency rank #1,416, classified as averb, pronounced /əˈvɔɪd/. avowed is at rank #43,515, tagged as averb, pronounced /əˈvaʊd/.
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 44931, this pair ranks #226,006 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of avoid vs avowed
Shared letters: adov. Private to "avoid": i. Private to "avowed": ew.
"avoid" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC · "avowed" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "avoid" for "avowed" ever safe?
Which is more common, "avoid" or "avowed"?
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 "avoid" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "avowed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #226,006 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "avoid" and "avowed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "avowed vs awed". 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 #226,006 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.