Which to use
“behaved” and “belated” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,100
- “behaved” frequency rank
- #28,128
- “belated” frequency rank
- 41228
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | behaved | belated |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of behave | simple past and past participle of belate |
Where the eye mixes behaved and belated
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: behaved vs belated
A purely visual mix-up. behaved (/bɪˈheɪvd/) and belated (/bɪˈleɪtɪd/) 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 41228, 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/. belated is at rank #28,128, tagged as averb, pronounced /bɪˈleɪtɪd/.
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 41228, this pair ranks #260,389 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of behaved vs belated
Shared letters: abde. Private to "behaved": hv. Private to "belated": lt.
"behaved" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "belated" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "behaved" for "belated" ever safe?
Which is more common, "behaved" or "belated"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "behaved" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "belated" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #260,389 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "behaved" and "belated" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "belated vs belatedly". 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 #260,389 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.