Which to use
“bested” and “blasted” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #40,581
- “bested” frequency rank
- #15,110
- “blasted” frequency rank
- 55691
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bested | blasted |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of best | simple past and past participle of blast |
Where the eye mixes bested and blasted
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between bested and blasted
A purely visual mix-up. bested (/ˈbɛstɪd/) and blasted (/ˈblɑː.stɪd/) 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 55691, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bested is recorded at frequency rank #40,581, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈbɛstɪd/. blasted is at rank #15,110, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈblɑː.stɪd/.
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 55691, this pair ranks #131,739 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of bested vs blasted
Shared letters: bdest. Private to "bested": -. Private to "blasted": al.
"bested" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "blasted" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "bested" and "blasted" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "bested" vs "blasted" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "bested" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "blasted" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #131,739 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bested" and "blasted" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bested vs bestie". 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 #131,739 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.