Which to use
“banked” and “barred” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,831
- “banked” frequency rank
- #10,988
- “barred” frequency rank
- 39819
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | banked | barred |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of bank | simple past and past participle of bar |
Where the eye mixes banked and barred
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses banked with barred
A purely visual mix-up. banked (/bæŋkt/) and barred (/ˈbɑː(ɹ)d/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39819, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
banked is recorded at frequency rank #28,831, classified as averb, pronounced /bæŋkt/. barred is at rank #10,988, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈbɑː(ɹ)d/.
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 39819, this pair ranks #273,220 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of banked vs barred
Shared letters: abde. Private to "banked": kn. Private to "barred": r.
"banked" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "barred" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "banked" and "barred" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "banked" or "barred"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "banked" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "barred" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #273,220 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "banked" and "barred" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "banked vs blanked". 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 #273,220 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.