clockedvscockedWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#22,930
“clocked” frequency rank
#31,479
“cocked” frequency rank
54409
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature clocked cocked
Definition Embroidered with clocks (i.e. figured decorations, not timepieces). Drunk.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
clocked
6 ch
cocked

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

clocked and cocked are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54409, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

clocked is recorded at frequency rank #22,930, classified as anadj. cocked is at rank #31,479, tagged as anadj, pronounced /kɑkt/.

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 54409, this pair ranks #141,295 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of clocked vs cocked

Shared letters: cdeko. Private to "clocked": l. Private to "cocked": -.

"clocked" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "cocked" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • clockedcclocked · clcoked · cllocked · cloccked · clocekd · clockde · clockedd · clockked
  • cockedccocked · ccoked · coccked · cocekd · cockde · cockedd · cockked · cokced

Frequency comparison

clocked#22,930
cocked#31,479

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "clocked" and "cocked" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "clocked" or "cocked"?
"clocked" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,930 in our English list, against #31,479 for "cocked". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering clocked vs cocked

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 “clocked” 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