Which to use
“denied” is a verb and “denier” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,422
- “denied” frequency rank
- #39,284
- “denier” frequency rank
- 42706
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | denied | denier |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of deny | An old French coin worth one-twelfth of a sou. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set denied and denier apart are highlighted. They share 5 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: denied is /dɪˈnaɪd/ while denier is /dəˈnɪə(ɹ)/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - d in “denied” becomes r in “denier”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42706, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
denied is recorded at frequency rank #3,422, classified as averb, pronounced /dɪˈnaɪd/. denier is at rank #39,284, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dəˈnɪə(ɹ)/.
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 42706, this pair ranks #246,812 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of denied vs denier
Shared letters: dein. Private to "denied": -. Private to "denier": r.
"denied" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "denier" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "denied" and "denier" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "denied" or "denier"?
Remembering denied vs denier
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “denied”; for a noun, it's “denier”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “denied” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable