blindedvsblindersWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: blinded is a verb, blinders is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“blinded” is a verb and “blinders” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#15,576
“blinded” frequency rank
#41,531
“blinders” frequency rank
57107
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature blinded blinders
Definition simple past and past participle of blind plural of blinder

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
blinded
8 ch
blinders

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: blinded is /ˈblaɪn.dɪd/ while blinders is /ˈblaɪndəz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57107, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

blinded is recorded at frequency rank #15,576, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈblaɪn.dɪd/. blinders is at rank #41,531, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈblaɪndəz/.

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 57107, this pair ranks #121,566 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of blinded vs blinders

Shared letters: bdeiln. Private to "blinded": -. Private to "blinders": rs.

"blinded" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "blinders" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • blindedbblinded · bilnded · blidned · blindde · blindded · blindedd · blinedd · blinnded
  • blindersbblinders · bilnders · blidners · blindders · blinderrs · blinderss · blindesr · blindres

Frequency comparison

blinded#15,576
blinders#41,531

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "blinded" and "blinders" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "blinded" is a verb and "blinders" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "blinded" or "blinders"?
"blinded" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,576 in our English list, against #41,531 for "blinders". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering blinded vs blinders

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “blinded”; for a noun, it's “blinders”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “blinded” 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