Which to use
“consented” and “consulted” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,709
- “consented” frequency rank
- #12,395
- “consulted” frequency rank
- 37104
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | consented | consulted |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of consent | simple past and past participle of consult |
Where the eye mixes consented and consulted
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. consented and consulted follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: consented vs consulted
A purely visual mix-up. consented (/kənˈsɛntɪd/) and consulted (/kənˈsʌltɪd/) 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 37104, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
consented is recorded at frequency rank #24,709, classified as averb, pronounced /kənˈsɛntɪd/. consulted is at rank #12,395, tagged as averb, pronounced /kənˈsʌltɪd/.
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 37104, this pair ranks #297,381 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of consented vs consulted
Shared letters: cdenost. Private to "consented": -. Private to "consulted": lu.
"consented" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "consulted" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "consented" for "consulted" ever safe?
Frequency check: "consented" vs "consulted" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "consented" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "consulted" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #297,381 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "consented" and "consulted" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "conceited vs consented". 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 #297,381 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.