Which to use
“competed” and “complete” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,725
- “competed” frequency rank
- #825
- “complete” frequency rank
- 15550
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | competed | complete |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of compete | To finish; to make done; to reach the end. |
Where the eye mixes competed and complete
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between competed and complete
A purely visual mix-up. competed (/kəmˈpiːtɪd/) and complete (/kəmˈpliːt/) 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 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15550, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
competed is recorded at frequency rank #14,725, classified as averb, pronounced /kəmˈpiːtɪd/. complete is at rank #825, tagged as averb, pronounced /kəmˈpliːt/.
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 15550, this pair ranks #463,297 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of competed vs complete
Shared letters: cemopt. Private to "competed": d. Private to "complete": l.
"competed" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "complete" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "competed" and "complete" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "competed" or "complete" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "competed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "complete" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #463,297 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "competed" and "complete" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "compacted vs competed". 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 #463,297 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.