Which to use
“cushioned” is a verb and “cushions” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #45,871
- “cushioned” frequency rank
- #22,636
- “cushions” frequency rank
- 68507
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cushioned | cushions |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of cushion | plural of cushion |
Where the eye mixes cushioned and cushions
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. cushioned runs 9 letters (CVCCVVCVC) against cushions's 8 (CVCCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses cushioned with cushions
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cushioned is /ˈkʊʃənd/ while cushions is /ˈkʊʃənz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68507, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cushioned is recorded at frequency rank #45,871, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈkʊʃənd/. cushions is at rank #22,636, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkʊʃənz/.
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 68507, this pair ranks #58,580 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cushioned vs cushions
Shared letters: chinosu. Private to "cushioned": de. Private to "cushions": -.
"cushioned" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC · "cushions" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cushioned" and "cushions" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "cushioned" or "cushions" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cushioned" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cushions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #58,580 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cushioned" and "cushions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cushion vs cushioned". 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 #58,580 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.