Which to use
“credit” is a verb and “credited” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,072
- “credit” frequency rank
- #8,531
- “credited” frequency rank
- 9603
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | credit | credited |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To believe; to put credence in. | Having something attributed to oneself. |
Where the eye mixes credit and credited
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. credit runs 6 letters (CCVCVC) against credited's 8 (CCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses credit with credited
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: credit is /ˈkɹɛdɪt/ while credited is /ˈkɹɛd.ɪ.tɪd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “credit” sits inside “credited”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9603, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
credit is recorded at frequency rank #1,072, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈkɹɛdɪt/. credited is at rank #8,531, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈkɹɛd.ɪ.tɪd/.
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 9603, this pair ranks #496,544 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of credit vs credited
Shared letters: cdeirt. Private to "credit": -. Private to "credited": -.
"credit" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "credited" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "credit" for "credited" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "credit" or "credited" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "credit" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "credited" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #496,544 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "credit" and "credited" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "credited vs crested". 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 #496,544 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.