behavedvsbeheadedWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“behaved” and “beheaded” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#13,100
“behaved” frequency rank
#21,730
“beheaded” frequency rank
34830
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature behaved beheaded
Definition simple past and past participle of behave simple past and past participle of behead

Letter map: behaved vs beheaded

Shared letters muted; letters that set behaved and beheaded apart highlighted. Shared run: 6.

7 ch
behaved
8 ch
beheaded

Spelling & dictionary notes on behaved vs beheaded

behaved and beheaded are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34830, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

behaved is recorded at frequency rank #13,100, classified as averb, pronounced /bɪˈheɪvd/. beheaded is at rank #21,730, tagged as averb.

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 34830, this pair ranks #317,295 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of behaved vs beheaded

Shared letters: abdeh. Private to "behaved": v. Private to "beheaded": -.

"behaved" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "beheaded" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • behavedbbehaved · beahved · behaevd · behavde · behavedd · behavved · behhaved · behvaed
  • beheadedbbeheaded · beehaded · behaeded · beheadde · beheadded · beheadedd · beheaedd · behedaed

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "behaved" and "beheaded" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
In ordinary English text, does "behaved" or "beheaded" show up more?
"behaved" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,100 in our English list, against #21,730 for "beheaded". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "behaved" and "beheaded".

  • Full dictionary entry for "behaved" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "beheaded" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #317,295 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "behaved" and "beheaded" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "behead vs beheaded". 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 #317,295 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list