Which to use
“enlarge” and “enlarged” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,362
- “enlarge” frequency rank
- #12,591
- “enlarged” frequency rank
- 34953
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | enlarge | enlarged |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To make (something) larger. | simple past and past participle of enlarge |
Where the eye mixes enlarge and enlarged
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. enlarge runs 7 letters (VCCVCCV) against enlarged's 8 (VCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses enlarge with enlarged
A purely visual mix-up. enlarge (/ɪnˈlɑːd͡ʒ/) and enlarged (/ɪnˈlɑːd͡ʒd/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “enlarge” sits inside “enlarged”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34953, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
enlarge is recorded at frequency rank #22,362, classified as averb, pronounced /ɪnˈlɑːd͡ʒ/. enlarged is at rank #12,591, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɪnˈlɑːd͡ʒd/.
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 34953, this pair ranks #316,222 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of enlarge vs enlarged
Shared letters: aeglnr. Private to "enlarge": -. Private to "enlarged": d.
"enlarge" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV · "enlarged" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "enlarge" and "enlarged" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "enlarge" or "enlarged"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "enlarge" and "enlarged" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "enlarge" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "enlarged" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #316,222 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "enlarge" and "enlarged" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "enlarged vs enraged". 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 #316,222 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.