Which to use
“deliver” and “delved” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,724
- “deliver” frequency rank
- #44,157
- “delved” frequency rank
- 46881
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | deliver | delved |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To set free from restraint or danger. | simple past and past participle of delve |
Where the eye mixes deliver and delved
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. deliver runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against delved's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between deliver and delved
A purely visual mix-up. deliver (/dɪˈlɪvə(ɹ)/) and delved (/dɛlvd/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46881, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
deliver is recorded at frequency rank #2,724, classified as averb, pronounced /dɪˈlɪvə(ɹ)/. delved is at rank #44,157, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɛlvd/.
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 46881, this pair ranks #207,590 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of deliver vs delved
Shared letters: delv. Private to "deliver": ir. Private to "delved": -.
"deliver" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "delved" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "deliver" for "delved" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "deliver" or "delved" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "deliver" and "delved" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "deliver" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "delved" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #207,590 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "deliver" and "delved" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "delved vs delves". 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 #207,590 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.