connedvsconveyWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“conned” and “convey” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#35,229
“conned” frequency rank
#9,155
“convey” frequency rank
44384
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature conned convey
Definition simple past and past participle of con To move (something) from one place to another.

Where the eye mixes conned and convey

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. conned (CVCCVC) and convey (CVCCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
conned
6 ch
convey

Look-alike desk: conned vs convey

A purely visual mix-up. conned (/kɒnd/) and convey (/kənˈveɪ/) 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 44384, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

conned is recorded at frequency rank #35,229, classified as averb, pronounced /kɒnd/. convey is at rank #9,155, tagged as averb, pronounced /kənˈveɪ/.

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 44384, this pair ranks #231,044 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of conned vs convey

Shared letters: ceno. Private to "conned": d. Private to "convey": vy.

"conned" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "convey" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • conned ← cconned · cnoned · coned · conend · connde · connedd · ocnned
  • convey ← cconvey · cnovey · conevy · connvey · conveyy · convvey · convye · covney

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "conned" and "convey" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/kɒnd/ versus /kənˈveɪ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "conned" vs "convey" - which ranks higher?
"convey" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,155 in our English list, against #35,229 for "conned". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "conned" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "convey" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #231,044 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "conned" and "convey" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coaxed vs conned". 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 #231,044 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list