Which to use
“denied” is a verb and “derided” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,422
- “denied” frequency rank
- #38,363
- “derided” frequency rank
- 41785
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | denied | derided |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of deny | Disparaged; subject to criticism or mockery. |
Letter map: denied vs derided
Shared letters muted; letters that set denied and derided apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. denied runs 6 letters (CVCVVC) against derided's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Role in the sentence - denied and derided
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: denied is averb and deridedanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41785, 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/. derided is at rank #38,363, tagged as anadj.
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 41785, this pair ranks #255,216 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of denied vs derided
Shared letters: dei. Private to "denied": n. Private to "derided": r.
"denied" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "derided" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "denied" and "derided" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "denied" vs "derided" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pair "denied" vs "derided" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "denied" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "derided" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #255,216 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "denied" and "derided" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "defiled vs derided". 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 #255,216 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.