Which to use
“decide” is a verb and “derided” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,715
- “decide” frequency rank
- #38,363
- “derided” frequency rank
- 40078
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | decide | derided |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To resolve (a contest, problem, dispute, etc.); to choose, determine, or settle. | Disparaged; subject to criticism or mockery. |
Letter map: decide vs derided
Shared letters muted; letters that set decide and derided apart highlighted. Shared run: 5.
Part-of-speech tell for decide / derided
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: decide is averb and deridedanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40078, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
decide is recorded at frequency rank #1,715, classified as averb, pronounced /dɪˈsaɪd/. derided is at rank #38,363, tagged as anadj.
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 40078, this pair ranks #270,878 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of decide vs derided
Shared letters: dei. Private to "decide": c. Private to "derided": r.
"decide" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "derided" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "decide" and "derided" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "decide" vs "derided" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
You've compared "decide" and "derided". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "decide" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "derided" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #270,878 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "decide" and "derided" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "defiled vs derided". 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 #270,878 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.