dishedvsdisusedWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“dished” and “disused” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#46,422
“dished” frequency rank
#33,206
“disused” frequency rank
79628
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dished disused
Definition simple past and past participle of dish simple past and past participle of disuse

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dished and disused apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
dished
7 ch
disused

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. dished (/dɪʃt/) and disused (/ˌdɪsˈjuːzd/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79628, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dished is recorded at frequency rank #46,422, classified as averb, pronounced /dɪʃt/. disused is at rank #33,206, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˌdɪsˈjuːzd/.

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 79628, this pair ranks #21,636 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of dished vs disused

Shared letters: deis. Private to "dished": h. Private to "disused": u.

"dished" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "disused" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dishedddished · dihsed · disehd · dishde · dishedd · dishhed · disshed · dsihed
  • disusedddisused · dissued · dissused · disuesd · disusde · disusedd · disussed · diussed

Frequency comparison

dished#46,422
disused#33,206

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dished" and "disused" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/dɪʃt/ versus /ˌdɪsˈjuːzd/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "dished" or "disused"?
"disused" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,206 in our English list, against #46,422 for "dished". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dished vs disused

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dished” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list