deletedvsdepleteConfusable pair

Quick tell: deleted is a adjective, deplete is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#5,317
“deleted” frequency rank
#44,159
“deplete” frequency rank
49476
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature deleted deplete
Definition Having been deleted or eliminated; absent from the final version. To reduce the amount of; to remove (a substance from something)

Letter map: deleted vs deplete

Shared letters muted; letters that set deleted and deplete apart highlighted. Shared run: 6. deleted (CVCVCVC) and deplete (CVCCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
deleted
7 ch
deplete

Part-of-speech tell for deleted / deplete

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: deleted is anadjective and depleteaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 5 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49476, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

deleted is recorded at frequency rank #5,317, classified as anadj. deplete is at rank #44,159, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɪˈpliːt/.

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 49476, this pair ranks #183,220 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of deleted vs deplete

Shared letters: delt. Private to "deleted": -. Private to "deplete": p.

"deleted" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "deplete" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • deleted ← ddeleted · deelted · deleetd · deletde · deletedd · deletted · delleted · delteed
  • deplete ← ddeplete · delpete · depelte · depleet · deplette · depllete · depltee · depplete

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "deleted" and "deplete" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "deleted" is an adjective and "deplete" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary English text, does "deleted" or "deplete" show up more?
"deleted" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,317 in our English list, against #44,159 for "deplete". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "deleted" and "deplete".

  • Full dictionary entry for "deleted" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "deplete" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #183,220 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "deleted" and "deplete" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deflate vs deplete". 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 #183,220 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