encryptvsencryptedWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: encrypt is a verb, encrypted is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“encrypt” is a verb and “encrypted” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,823
“encrypt” frequency rank
#16,701
“encrypted” frequency rank
55524
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature encrypt encrypted
Definition To conceal information by means of a code or cipher. Being in code; having been encrypted.

Letter map: encrypt vs encrypted

Shared letters muted; letters that set encrypt and encrypted apart highlighted. Shared run: 7.

7 ch
encrypt
9 ch
encrypted

Role in the sentence - encrypt and encrypted

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: encrypt is averb and encryptedanadjective. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “encrypt” sits inside “encrypted”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55524, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

encrypt is recorded at frequency rank #38,823, classified as averb, pronounced /ɪnˈkɹɪpt/. encrypted is at rank #16,701, 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 55524, this pair ranks #133,004 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of encrypt vs encrypted

Shared letters: cenprty. Private to "encrypt": -. Private to "encrypted": d.

"encrypt" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCC  ·  "encrypted" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • encryptecnrypt · enccrypt · encrpyt · encrrypt · encryppt · encryptt · encrytp · encryypt
  • encryptedecnrypted · enccrypted · encrpyted · encrrypted · encrypetd · encryppted · encryptde · encryptedd

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "encrypt" for "encrypted" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "encrypt" is a verb and "encrypted" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary English text, does "encrypt" or "encrypted" show up more?
"encrypted" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,701 in our English list, against #38,823 for "encrypt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

You've compared "encrypt" and "encrypted". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "encrypt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "encrypted" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #133,004 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "encrypt" and "encrypted" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "encrusted vs encrypted". 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 #133,004 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