Which to use
“eared” is an adjective and “earned” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #35,271
- “eared” frequency rank
- #2,729
- “earned” frequency rank
- 38000
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | eared | earned |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Having ears (of a specified type). | simple past and past participle of earn |
Where the eye mixes eared and earned
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses eared with earned
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: eared is /ɪəd/ while earned is /ɝnd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 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 38000, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
eared is recorded at frequency rank #35,271, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɪəd/. earned is at rank #2,729, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɝnd/.
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 38000, this pair ranks #289,700 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of eared vs earned
Shared letters: ader. Private to "eared": -. Private to "earned": n.
"eared" · 5 letters · shape VVCVC · "earned" · 6 letters · shape VVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "eared" and "earned" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "eared" or "earned"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "eared" and "earned" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "eared" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "earned" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #289,700 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "eared" and "earned" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "eared vs easel". 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 #289,700 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.