# beaten vs bested

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### beaten
*adjective · IPA /ˈbiː.tən/ · frequency rank #5,007*
Defeated.

### bested
*verb · IPA /ˈbɛstɪd/ · frequency rank #40,581*
simple past and past participle of best

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/beaten-vs-bested