Which to use
“deluded” is an adjective and “delved” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,801
- “deluded” frequency rank
- #44,157
- “delved” frequency rank
- 67958
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | deluded | delved |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Being affected by delusions. | simple past and past participle of delve |
Where the eye mixes deluded and delved
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. deluded 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.
Look-alike desk: deluded vs delved
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: deluded is /dɪˈluːdɪd/ while delved is /dɛlvd/. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67958, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
deluded is recorded at frequency rank #23,801, classified as anadj, pronounced /dɪˈluːdɪd/. 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 67958, this pair ranks #61,044 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of deluded vs delved
Shared letters: del. Private to "deluded": u. Private to "delved": v.
"deluded" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "delved" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "deluded" for "delved" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "deluded" or "delved" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "deluded" 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 #61,044 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "deluded" 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 #61,044 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.