Which to use
“combed” is an adjective and “commend” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,481
- “combed” frequency rank
- #20,887
- “commend” frequency rank
- 52368
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | combed | commend |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Arranged or groomed with a comb. | To congratulate or reward. |
Letter map: combed vs commend
Shared letters muted; letters that set combed and commend apart highlighted. Shared run: 5.
Part-of-speech tell for combed / commend
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: combed is anadjective and commendaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52368, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
combed is recorded at frequency rank #31,481, classified as anadj. commend is at rank #20,887, tagged as averb, pronounced /kəˈmɛnd/.
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 52368, this pair ranks #157,623 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of combed vs commend
Shared letters: cdemo. Private to "combed": b. Private to "commend": n.
"combed" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "commend" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "combed" for "commend" ever safe?
Which is more common, "combed" or "commend"?
What to do next
You've compared "combed" and "commend". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "combed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "commend" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #157,623 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "combed" and "commend" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coaxed vs combed". 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 #157,623 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.