Which to use
“divert” is a verb and “diverted” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,694
- “divert” frequency rank
- #15,149
- “diverted” frequency rank
- 31843
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | divert | diverted |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To turn aside from a course. | that has been subject to diversion |
Where the eye mixes divert and diverted
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. divert runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against diverted's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between divert and diverted
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: divert is /daɪˈvɜːt/ while diverted is /daɪˈvɜːtəd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “divert” sits inside “diverted”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31843, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
divert is recorded at frequency rank #16,694, classified as averb, pronounced /daɪˈvɜːt/. diverted is at rank #15,149, tagged as anadj, pronounced /daɪˈvɜːtəd/.
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 31843, this pair ranks #342,764 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of divert vs diverted
Shared letters: deirtv. Private to "divert": -. Private to "diverted": -.
"divert" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "diverted" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "divert" for "diverted" ever safe?
Frequency check: "divert" vs "diverted" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "divert" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "diverted" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #342,764 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "divert" and "diverted" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dimer vs divert". 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 #342,764 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.