Which to use
“dilute” is a verb and “diluted” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #22,951
- “dilute” frequency rank
- #15,601
- “diluted” frequency rank
- 38552
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dilute | diluted |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To make thinner by adding solvent to a solution, especially by adding water. | That has had something added in order to dilute it. |
Letter map: dilute vs diluted
Shared letters muted; letters that set dilute and diluted apart highlighted. Shared run: 6. dilute runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against diluted's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Role in the sentence - dilute and diluted
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: dilute is averb and dilutedanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “dilute” sits inside “diluted”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38552, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dilute is recorded at frequency rank #22,951, classified as averb, pronounced /daɪˈljuːt/. diluted is at rank #15,601, 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 38552, this pair ranks #284,907 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dilute vs diluted
Shared letters: deiltu. Private to "dilute": -. Private to "diluted": -.
"dilute" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "diluted" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dilute" and "diluted" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "dilute" or "diluted" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pair "dilute" vs "diluted" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "dilute" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "diluted" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #284,907 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dilute" and "diluted" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dilute vs disuse". 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 #284,907 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.