Which to use
“emphasize” is a verb and “emphasized” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,373
- “emphasize” frequency rank
- #11,028
- “emphasized” frequency rank
- 22401
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | emphasize | emphasized |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To stress, give emphasis or extra weight to (something). | Having been given extra stress or focus. |
Letter map: emphasize vs emphasized
Shared letters muted; letters that set emphasize and emphasized apart highlighted. Shared run: 9.
Grammar separator: emphasize vs emphasized
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: emphasize is averb and emphasizedanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “emphasize” sits inside “emphasized”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22401, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
emphasize is recorded at frequency rank #11,373, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈɛm.fə.saɪz/. emphasized is at rank #11,028, 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 22401, this pair ranks #416,860 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of emphasize vs emphasized
Shared letters: aehimpsz. Private to "emphasize": -. Private to "emphasized": d.
"emphasize" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCVCV · "emphasized" · 10 letters · shape VCCCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- emphasize ← emhpasize · emmphasize · empahsize · emphaisze · emphasiez · emphasizze · emphassize · emphaszie
- emphasized ← emhpasized · emmphasized · empahsized · emphaiszed · emphasiezd · emphasizde · emphasizedd · emphasizzed
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "emphasize" and "emphasized" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "emphasize" vs "emphasized" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
You've compared "emphasize" and "emphasized". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "emphasize" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "emphasized" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #416,860 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "emphasize" and "emphasized" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "emphasise vs emphasize". 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 #416,860 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.