Which to use
“decked” is a verb and “decks” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #26,745
- “decked” frequency rank
- #12,752
- “decks” frequency rank
- 39497
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | decked | decks |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of deck | plural of deck |
Where the eye mixes decked and decks
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses decked with decks
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: decked is /dɛkt/ while decks is /dɛks/. 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 39497, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
decked is recorded at frequency rank #26,745, classified as averb, pronounced /dɛkt/. decks is at rank #12,752, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɛks/.
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 39497, this pair ranks #276,133 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of decked vs decks
Shared letters: cdek. Private to "decked": -. Private to "decks": s.
"decked" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "decks" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "decked" and "decks" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "decked" or "decks" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "decked" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "decks" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #276,133 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "decked" and "decks" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "decked vs delved". 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 #276,133 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.