Which to use
“centered” is an adjective and “centred” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,203
- “centered” frequency rank
- #14,915
- “centred” frequency rank
- 22118
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | centered | centred |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Middlemost; located at the center. | simple past and past participle of centre |
Same sound, different letters: centered vs centred
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters.
Same sound, different spelling - centered / centred
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: centered and centred carry the same recorded pronunciation, /ˈsɛn.təd/. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22118, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
centered is recorded at frequency rank #7,203, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈsɛn.təd/. centred is at rank #14,915, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈsɛn.təd/.
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 22118, this pair ranks #418,947 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of centered vs centred
Shared letters: cdenrt. Private to "centered": -. Private to "centred": -.
"centered" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "centred" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "centered" and "centred" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "centered" or "centred"?
Useful next steps
"centered" and "centred" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "centered" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "centred" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #418,947 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "centered" and "centred" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "catered vs centered". 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 #418,947 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.