Which to use
“covet” and “coveted” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,095
- “covet” frequency rank
- #18,525
- “coveted” frequency rank
- 54620
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | covet | coveted |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To wish for with eagerness; to desire possession of, often enviously. | simple past and past participle of covet |
Where the eye mixes covet and coveted
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. covet runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against coveted's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: covet vs coveted
A purely visual mix-up. covet (/ˈkʌvɪt/) and coveted (/ˈkʌvɪtɪd/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “covet” sits inside “coveted”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54620, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
covet is recorded at frequency rank #36,095, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈkʌvɪt/. coveted is at rank #18,525, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈkʌvɪtɪd/.
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 54620, this pair ranks #139,668 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of covet vs coveted
Shared letters: ceotv. Private to "covet": -. Private to "coveted": d.
"covet" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "coveted" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "covet" and "coveted" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "covet" or "coveted" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "covet" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "coveted" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #139,668 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "covet" and "coveted" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "covet vs cower". 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 #139,668 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.