Which to use
“courted” is an adjective and “courtesy” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #33,593
- “courted” frequency rank
- #5,778
- “courtesy” frequency rank
- 39371
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | courted | courtesy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Romantically pursued; wooed. | Polite behavior. |
Letter map: courted vs courtesy
Shared letters muted; letters that set courted and courtesy apart highlighted. Shared run: 6. courted runs 7 letters (CVVCCVC) against courtesy's 8 (CVVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Role in the sentence - courted and courtesy
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: courted is anadjective and courtesyanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39371, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
courted is recorded at frequency rank #33,593, classified as anadj. courtesy is at rank #5,778, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɜːtəsi/.
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 39371, this pair ranks #277,320 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of courted vs courtesy
Shared letters: ceortu. Private to "courted": d. Private to "courtesy": sy.
"courted" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC · "courtesy" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "courted" for "courtesy" ever safe?
Which is more common, "courted" or "courtesy"?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "courted" and "courtesy".
- Full dictionary entry for "courted" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "courtesy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #277,320 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "courted" and "courtesy" 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 #277,320 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.