Which to use
“decayed” is an adjective and “declared” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #35,246
- “decayed” frequency rank
- #2,723
- “declared” frequency rank
- 37969
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | decayed | declared |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Having undergone decay, rotted. | simple past and past participle of declare |
Where the eye mixes decayed and declared
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses decayed with declared
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: decayed is /dɪˈkeɪd/ while declared is /dɪˈklɛəd/. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37969, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
decayed is recorded at frequency rank #35,246, classified as anadj, pronounced /dɪˈkeɪd/. declared is at rank #2,723, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɪˈklɛəd/.
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 37969, this pair ranks #289,958 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of decayed vs declared
Shared letters: acde. Private to "decayed": y. Private to "declared": lr.
"decayed" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVVC · "declared" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "decayed" and "declared" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "decayed" vs "declared" - 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 "decayed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "declared" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #289,958 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "decayed" and "declared" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "decayed vs decays". 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 #289,958 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.