connedvscopiedConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#35,229
“conned” frequency rank
#9,725
“copied” frequency rank
44954
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature conned copied
Definition simple past and past participle of con simple past and past participle of copy

Where the eye mixes conned and copied

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

6 ch
conned
6 ch
copied

Look-alike desk: conned vs copied

A purely visual mix-up. conned (/kɒnd/) and copied (/ˈkɑpid/) 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 44954, 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/. copied is at rank #9,725, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈkɑpid/.

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 44954, this pair ranks #225,794 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of conned vs copied

Shared letters: cdeo. Private to "conned": n. Private to "copied": ip.

"conned" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "copied" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • conned ← cconned · cnoned · coned · conend · connde · connedd · ocnned
  • copied ← ccopied · coiped · copeid · copide · copiedd · coppied · cpoied · ocpied

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "conned" and "copied" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/kɒnd/ versus /ˈkɑpid/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary English text, does "conned" or "copied" show up more?
"copied" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,725 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.

What to do next

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 "copied" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #225,794 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "conned" and "copied" 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 #225,794 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