blackedvsblackestWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#20,571
“blacked” frequency rank
#42,030
“blackest” frequency rank
62601
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature blacked blackest
Definition Colored black. superlative form of black: most black

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set blacked and blackest apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
blacked
8 ch
blackest

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. blacked (/blækt/) and blackest (/blækəst/) 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 62601, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

blacked is recorded at frequency rank #20,571, classified as anadj, pronounced /blækt/. blackest is at rank #42,030, tagged as anadj, pronounced /blækəst/.

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 62601, this pair ranks #87,573 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of blacked vs blackest

Shared letters: abcekl. Private to "blacked": d. Private to "blackest": st.

"blacked" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "blackest" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • blackedbalcked · bblacked · blaccked · blacekd · blackde · blackedd · blackked · blakced
  • blackestbalckest · bblackest · blacckest · blacekst · blackesst · blackestt · blackets · blackkest

Frequency comparison

blacked#20,571
blackest#42,030

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "blacked" and "blackest" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/blækt/ versus /blækəst/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "blacked" or "blackest"?
"blacked" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,571 in our English list, against #42,030 for "blackest". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering blacked vs blackest

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “blacked” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list