Which to use
“complied” is a verb and “composed” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,888
- “complied” frequency rank
- #4,513
- “composed” frequency rank
- 25401
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | complied | composed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of comply | Showing composure. |
Where the eye mixes complied and composed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between complied and composed
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: complied is /kəmˈplaɪd/ while composed is /kəmˈpoʊzd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25401, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
complied is recorded at frequency rank #20,888, classified as averb, pronounced /kəmˈplaɪd/. composed is at rank #4,513, tagged as anadj, pronounced /kəmˈpoʊzd/.
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 25401, this pair ranks #394,536 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of complied vs composed
Shared letters: cdemop. Private to "complied": il. Private to "composed": s.
"complied" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVVC · "composed" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "complied" for "composed" ever safe?
Frequency check: "complied" vs "composed" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "complied" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "composed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #394,536 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "complied" and "composed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "complied vs complies". 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 #394,536 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.