Which to use
“competed” and “completes” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,725
- “competed” frequency rank
- #14,494
- “completes” frequency rank
- 29219
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | competed | completes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of compete | third-person singular simple present indicative of complete |
Where the eye mixes competed and completes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: competed vs completes
A purely visual mix-up. competed (/kəmˈpiːtɪd/) and completes (/kəmˈpliːts/) 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 29219, 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/. completes is at rank #14,494, tagged as averb, pronounced /kəmˈpliːts/.
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 29219, this pair ranks #364,850 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of competed vs completes
Shared letters: cemopt. Private to "competed": d. Private to "completes": ls.
"competed" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "completes" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "competed" and "completes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "competed" or "completes"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "competed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "completes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #364,850 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "competed" and "completes" 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 #364,850 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.