Which to use
“disputed” is an adjective and “disputes” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,199
- “disputed” frequency rank
- #7,556
- “disputes” frequency rank
- 17755
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | disputed | disputes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Argued; not certain, agreed upon, or accepted. | plural of dispute |
Where the eye mixes disputed and disputes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between disputed and disputes
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: disputed is /dɪsˈpjuːtɪd/ while disputes is /dɪsˈpjuːts/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - d in “disputed” becomes s in “disputes”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17755, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
disputed is recorded at frequency rank #10,199, classified as anadj, pronounced /dɪsˈpjuːtɪd/. disputes is at rank #7,556, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɪsˈpjuːts/.
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 17755, this pair ranks #449,370 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of disputed vs disputes
Shared letters: deipstu. Private to "disputed": -. Private to "disputes": -.
"disputed" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "disputes" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "disputed" and "disputes" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "disputed" vs "disputes" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "disputed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "disputes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #449,370 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "disputed" and "disputes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "disputed vs disused". 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 #449,370 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.