# decayed vs delayed

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### decayed
*adjective · IPA /dɪˈkeɪd/ · frequency rank #35,246*
Having undergone decay, rotted.

### delayed
*verb · IPA /dəˈleɪd/ · frequency rank #5,116*
simple past and past participle of delay

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/decayed-vs-delayed