deridedvsderiveWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: derided is a adjective, derive is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“derided” is an adjective and “derive” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,363
“derided” frequency rank
#14,737
“derive” frequency rank
53100
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature derided derive
Definition Disparaged; subject to criticism or mockery. To obtain or receive (something) from something else.

Letter map: derided vs derive

Shared letters muted; letters that set derided and derive apart highlighted. Shared run: 5.

7 ch
derided
6 ch
derive

Part-of-speech tell for derided / derive

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: derided is anadjective and deriveaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53100, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

derided is recorded at frequency rank #38,363, classified as anadj. derive is at rank #14,737, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɪˈɹaɪv/.

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 53100, this pair ranks #151,674 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of derided vs derive

Shared letters: deir. Private to "derided": -. Private to "derive": v.

"derided" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "derive" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • derideddderided · deirded · derdied · deridde · deridded · deridedd · deriedd · derrided
  • derivedderive · deirve · deriev · derivve · derrive · dervie · dreive · edrive

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "derided" and "derive" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "derided" is an adjective and "derive" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "derided" vs "derive" - which ranks higher?
"derive" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,737 in our English list, against #38,363 for "derided". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "derided" and "derive".

  • Full dictionary entry for "derided" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "derive" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #151,674 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "derided" and "derive" 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 #151,674 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list