Which to use
“burnt” and “burst” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,765
- “burnt” frequency rank
- #5,579
- “burst” frequency rank
- 12344
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | burnt | burst |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of burn | To break from internal pressure. |
Where the eye mixes burnt and burst
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses burnt with burst
A purely visual mix-up. burnt (/bɜːnt/) and burst (/bɝst/) 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 a single letter - n in “burnt” becomes s in “burst”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12344, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
burnt is recorded at frequency rank #6,765, classified as averb, pronounced /bɜːnt/. burst is at rank #5,579, tagged as averb, pronounced /bɝst/.
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 12344, this pair ranks #482,082 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of burnt vs burst
Shared letters: brtu. Private to "burnt": n. Private to "burst": s.
"burnt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "burst" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "burnt" for "burst" ever safe?
Frequency check: "burnt" vs "burst" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "burnt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "burst" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #482,082 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "burnt" and "burst" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Burney vs burnt". 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 #482,082 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.