Which to use
“dried” is an adjective and “drilled” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,677
- “dried” frequency rank
- #14,747
- “drilled” frequency rank
- 21424
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dried | drilled |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Without water or moisture, said of something that has previously been wet or moist; resulting from the process of drying. | simple past and past participle of drill |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dried and drilled apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dried is /dɹaɪd/ while drilled is /dɹɪld/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21424, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dried is recorded at frequency rank #6,677, classified as anadj, pronounced /dɹaɪd/. drilled is at rank #14,747, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɹɪld/.
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 21424, this pair ranks #424,030 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dried vs drilled
Shared letters: deir. Private to "dried": -. Private to "drilled": l.
"dried" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "drilled" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dried" and "drilled" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "dried" or "drilled"?
Remembering dried vs drilled
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “dried”; for a verb, it's “drilled”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dried” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable