Which to use
“derail” is a noun and “derailed” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #26,059
- “derail” frequency rank
- #25,032
- “derailed” frequency rank
- 51091
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | derail | derailed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Synonym of derailer: A device placed on railway tracks in order to cause a train to derail. | simple past and past participle of derail |
Letter map: derail vs derailed
Shared letters muted; letters that set derail and derailed apart highlighted. Shared run: 6. derail runs 6 letters (CVCVVC) against derailed's 8 (CVCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Grammar separator: derail vs derailed
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: derail is anoun and derailedaverb. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “derail” sits inside “derailed”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51091, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
derail is recorded at frequency rank #26,059, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˌdəˈɹeɪ.əl/. derailed is at rank #25,032, tagged as averb.
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 51091, this pair ranks #168,475 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of derail vs derailed
Shared letters: adeilr. Private to "derail": -. Private to "derailed": -.
"derail" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "derailed" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "derail" and "derailed" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "derail" or "derailed" show up more?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "derail" and "derailed".
- Full dictionary entry for "derail" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "derailed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #168,475 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "derail" and "derailed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "DePaul vs derail". 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 #168,475 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.