embracedvsembracesWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: embraced is a verb, embraces is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“embraced” is a verb and “embraces” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#10,359
“embraced” frequency rank
#18,299
“embraces” frequency rank
28658
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature embraced embraces
Definition simple past and past participle of embrace plural of embrace

Where the eye mixes embraced and embraces

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. embraced and embraces follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
embraced
8 ch
embraces

Why the eye confuses embraced with embraces

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: embraced is /ɪmˈbɹeɪst/ while embraces is /ɛmˈbɹeɪsɪz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - d in “embraced” becomes s in “embraces”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28658, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

embraced is recorded at frequency rank #10,359, classified as averb, pronounced /ɪmˈbɹeɪst/. embraces is at rank #18,299, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɛmˈbɹeɪsɪz/.

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 28658, this pair ranks #369,339 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of embraced vs embraces

Shared letters: abcemr. Private to "embraced": d. Private to "embraces": s.

"embraced" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC  ·  "embraces" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • embraced ← ebmraced · embarced · embbraced · embracced · embracde · embracedd · embraecd · embrcaed
  • embraces ← ebmraces · embarces · embbraces · embracces · embracess · embracse · embraecs · embrcaes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "embraced" for "embraces" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "embraced" is a verb and "embraces" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "embraced" or "embraces"?
"embraced" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,359 in our English list, against #18,299 for "embraces". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "embraced" and "embraces" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "embraced" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "embraces" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #369,339 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "embraced" and "embraces" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "embraces vs Emirates". 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 #369,339 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list