Which to use
“complicate” is a verb and “complicated” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,593
- “complicate” frequency rank
- #3,156
- “complicated” frequency rank
- 23749
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | complicate | complicated |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To make complex; to modify so as to make something intricate or difficult. | Difficult or convoluted. |
Where the eye mixes complicate and complicated
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: complicate vs complicated
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: complicate is /ˈkɑmplɪkeɪt/ while complicated is /ˈkɒm.plɪ.keɪ.tɪd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “complicate” sits inside “complicated”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23749, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
complicate is recorded at frequency rank #20,593, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈkɑmplɪkeɪt/. complicated is at rank #3,156, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈkɒm.plɪ.keɪ.tɪd/.
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 23749, this pair ranks #407,048 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of complicate vs complicated
Shared letters: aceilmopt. Private to "complicate": -. Private to "complicated": d.
"complicate" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCV · "complicated" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- complicate ← ccomplicate · cmoplicate · comlpicate · commplicate · compilcate · complciate · compliacte · complicaet
- complicated ← ccomplicated · cmoplicated · comlpicated · commplicated · compilcated · complciated · compliacted · complicaetd
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "complicate" and "complicated" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "complicate" vs "complicated" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "complicate" and "complicated" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "complicate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "complicated" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #407,048 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "complicate" and "complicated" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "complicate vs complicity". 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 #407,048 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.