Which to use
“competed” and “completed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,725
- “competed” frequency rank
- #1,750
- “completed” frequency rank
- 16475
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | competed | completed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of compete | simple past and past participle of complete |
Where the eye mixes competed and completed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses competed with completed
A purely visual mix-up. competed (/kəmˈpiːtɪd/) and completed (/kəmˈpliːtɪd/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16475, 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/. completed is at rank #1,750, tagged as averb, pronounced /kəmˈpliːtɪd/.
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 16475, this pair ranks #457,509 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of competed vs completed
Shared letters: cdemopt. Private to "competed": -. Private to "completed": l.
"competed" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "completed" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "competed" and "completed" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "competed" vs "completed" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "competed" and "completed" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "competed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "completed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #457,509 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "competed" and "completed" 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 #457,509 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.