Which to use
“deferral” is a noun and “deferred” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #47,011
- “deferral” frequency rank
- #14,103
- “deferred” frequency rank
- 61114
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | deferral | deferred |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An act of deferring, a deferment. | simple past and past participle of defer |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set deferral and deferred apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: deferral is /dɪˈfɝəl/ while deferred is /dɪˈfɜːd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61114, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
deferral is recorded at frequency rank #47,011, classified as anoun, pronounced /dɪˈfɝəl/. deferred is at rank #14,103, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɪˈfɜːd/.
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 61114, this pair ranks #96,161 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of deferral vs deferred
Shared letters: defr. Private to "deferral": al. Private to "deferred": -.
"deferral" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "deferred" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "deferral" and "deferred" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "deferral" or "deferred"?
Remembering deferral vs deferred
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “deferral”; for a verb, it's “deferred”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “deferral” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable