coaxedvscravedWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#47,536
“coaxed” frequency rank
#32,749
“craved” frequency rank
80285
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature coaxed craved
Definition simple past and past participle of coax simple past and past participle of crave

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set coaxed and craved apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
coaxed
6 ch
craved

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. coaxed (/kəʊkst/) and craved (/kɹeɪvd/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80285, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

coaxed is recorded at frequency rank #47,536, classified as averb, pronounced /kəʊkst/. craved is at rank #32,749, tagged as averb, pronounced /kɹeɪvd/.

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 80285, this pair ranks #20,124 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of coaxed vs craved

Shared letters: acde. Private to "coaxed": ox. Private to "craved": rv.

"coaxed" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "craved" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • coaxedcaoxed · ccoaxed · coaexd · coaxde · coaxedd · coaxxed · coxaed · ocaxed
  • cravedccraved · craevd · cravde · cravedd · cravved · crraved · crvaed · rcaved

Frequency comparison

coaxed#47,536
craved#32,749

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "coaxed" and "craved" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/kəʊkst/ versus /kɹeɪvd/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "coaxed" or "craved"?
"craved" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,749 in our English list, against #47,536 for "coaxed". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering coaxed vs craved

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 “coaxed” 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