deckedvsdentedConfusable pair

Quick tell: decked is a verb, dented is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“decked” is a verb and “dented” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#26,745
“decked” frequency rank
#38,361
“dented” frequency rank
65106
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature decked dented
Definition simple past and past participle of deck Having teeth of a specified colour.

Letter map: decked vs dented

Shared letters muted; letters that set decked and dented apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.

6 ch
decked
6 ch
dented

Role in the sentence - decked and dented

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: decked is averb and dentedanadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65106, 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/. dented is at rank #38,361, 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 65106, this pair ranks #74,399 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of decked vs dented

Shared letters: de. Private to "decked": ck. Private to "dented": nt.

"decked" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "dented" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • deckeddceked · ddecked · deccked · decekd · deckde · deckedd · deckked · dekced
  • dentedddented · denetd · dennted · dentde · dentedd · dentted · detned · dneted

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "decked" for "dented" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "decked" is a verb and "dented" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary English text, does "decked" or "dented" show up more?
"decked" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,745 in our English list, against #38,361 for "dented". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "decked" and "dented".

  • Full dictionary entry for "decked" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dented" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #74,399 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "decked" and "dented" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "darted vs dented". 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 #74,399 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list