Which to use
“courier” is a noun and “courted” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,526
- “courier” frequency rank
- #33,593
- “courted” frequency rank
- 45119
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | courier | courted |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A person who delivers messages. | Romantically pursued; wooed. |
Letter map: courier vs courted
Shared letters muted; letters that set courier and courted apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. courier (CVVCVVC) and courted (CVVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Grammar separator: courier vs courted
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: courier is anoun and courtedanadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45119, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
courier is recorded at frequency rank #11,526, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkʊ.ɹi.ə/. courted is at rank #33,593, tagged as anadj.
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 45119, this pair ranks #224,253 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of courier vs courted
Shared letters: ceoru. Private to "courier": i. Private to "courted": dt.
"courier" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVVC · "courted" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "courier" and "courted" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "courier" or "courted"?
Useful next steps
You've compared "courier" and "courted". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "courier" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "courted" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #224,253 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "courier" and "courted" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "courted vs crusted". 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 #224,253 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.