Which to use
“coiled” and “conned” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,738
- “coiled” frequency rank
- #35,229
- “conned” frequency rank
- 67967
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | coiled | conned |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of coil | simple past and past participle of con |
Where the eye mixes coiled and conned
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. coiled (CVVCVC) and conned (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses coiled with conned
A purely visual mix-up. coiled (/kɔɪld/) and conned (/kɒnd/) 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 67967, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
coiled is recorded at frequency rank #32,738, classified as averb, pronounced /kɔɪld/. conned is at rank #35,229, tagged as averb, pronounced /kɒnd/.
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 67967, this pair ranks #60,997 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of coiled vs conned
Shared letters: cdeo. Private to "coiled": il. Private to "conned": n.
"coiled" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "conned" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "coiled" for "conned" ever safe?
Which is more common, "coiled" or "conned"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "coiled" and "conned" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "coiled" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "conned" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #60,997 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "coiled" and "conned" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coaxed vs conned". 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 #60,997 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.