Which to use
“eclipse” is a noun and “eclipsed” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,462
- “eclipse” frequency rank
- #29,253
- “eclipsed” frequency rank
- 38715
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | eclipse | eclipsed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An alignment of astronomical objects whereby one object comes between the observer (or notional observer) and another object, thus obscuring the latter. | With its disc sable (or, modernly, of another specified tincture). |
Letter map: eclipse vs eclipsed
Shared letters muted; letters that set eclipse and eclipsed apart highlighted. Shared run: 7.
Grammar separator: eclipse vs eclipsed
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: eclipse is anoun and eclipsedanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “eclipse” sits inside “eclipsed”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38715, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
eclipse is recorded at frequency rank #9,462, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɪˈklɪps/. eclipsed is at rank #29,253, tagged as anadj.
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 38715, this pair ranks #283,450 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of eclipse vs eclipsed
Shared letters: ceilps. Private to "eclipse": -. Private to "eclipsed": d.
"eclipse" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV · "eclipsed" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "eclipse" and "eclipsed" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "eclipse" or "eclipsed"?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "eclipse" and "eclipsed".
- Full dictionary entry for "eclipse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "eclipsed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #283,450 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "eclipse" and "eclipsed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "eclipsed vs ellipse". 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 #283,450 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.