Which to use
“competed” and “complied” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,725
- “competed” frequency rank
- #20,888
- “complied” frequency rank
- 35613
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | competed | complied |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of compete | simple past and past participle of comply |
Where the eye mixes competed and complied
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. competed (CVCCVCVC) and complied (CVCCCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between competed and complied
A purely visual mix-up. competed (/kəmˈpiːtɪd/) and complied (/kəmˈplaɪd/) 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 35613, 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/. complied is at rank #20,888, tagged as averb, pronounced /kəmˈplaɪd/.
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 35613, this pair ranks #310,480 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of competed vs complied
Shared letters: cdemop. Private to "competed": t. Private to "complied": il.
"competed" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "complied" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "competed" for "complied" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "competed" or "complied" show up more?
What to do next
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 "complied" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #310,480 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "competed" and "complied" 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 #310,480 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.