Which to use
“centred” is a verb and “centres” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,915
- “centred” frequency rank
- #6,033
- “centres” frequency rank
- 20948
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | centred | centres |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of centre | plural of centre |
Where the eye mixes centred and centres
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between centred and centres
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: centred is /ˈsɛn.təd/ while centres is /ˈsɛn.tə(ɹ)z/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - d in “centred” becomes s in “centres”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20948, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
centred is recorded at frequency rank #14,915, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈsɛn.təd/. centres is at rank #6,033, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɛn.tə(ɹ)z/.
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 20948, this pair ranks #427,509 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of centred vs centres
Shared letters: cenrt. Private to "centred": d. Private to "centres": s.
"centred" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "centres" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "centred" and "centres" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "centred" vs "centres" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "centred" and "centres" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "centred" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "centres" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #427,509 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "centred" and "centres" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "centres vs Ceres". 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 #427,509 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.