Which to use
“darned” is a verb and “dated” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #45,316
- “darned” frequency rank
- #4,362
- “dated” frequency rank
- 49678
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | darned | dated |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of darn | Marked with a date. |
Where the eye mixes darned and dated
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: darned vs dated
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: darned is /dɑːnd/ while dated is /ˈdeɪtɪd/. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49678, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
darned is recorded at frequency rank #45,316, classified as averb, pronounced /dɑːnd/. dated is at rank #4,362, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈdeɪtɪd/.
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 49678, this pair ranks #181,365 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of darned vs dated
Shared letters: ade. Private to "darned": nr. Private to "dated": t.
"darned" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "dated" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "darned" for "dated" ever safe?
Frequency check: "darned" vs "dated" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "darned" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dated" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #181,365 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "darned" and "dated" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "darned vs darted". 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 #181,365 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.