Which to use
“destroy” and “destroyed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,887
- “destroy” frequency rank
- #2,437
- “destroyed” frequency rank
- 5324
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | destroy | destroyed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To damage beyond use or repair; to damage (something) to the point that it effectively ceases to exist. | simple past and past participle of destroy |
Where the eye mixes destroy and destroyed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: destroy vs destroyed
A purely visual mix-up. destroy (/dɪˈstɹɔɪ/) and destroyed (/dɪˈstɹɔɪd/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “destroy” sits inside “destroyed”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5324, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
destroy is recorded at frequency rank #2,887, classified as averb, pronounced /dɪˈstɹɔɪ/. destroyed is at rank #2,437, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɪˈstɹɔɪd/.
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 5324, this pair ranks #515,780 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of destroy vs destroyed
Shared letters: deorsty. Private to "destroy": -. Private to "destroyed": -.
"destroy" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVV · "destroyed" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "destroy" and "destroyed" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "destroy" or "destroyed"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "destroy" and "destroyed" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "destroy" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "destroyed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #515,780 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "destroy" and "destroyed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "destroy vs destroyer". 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 #515,780 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.