enticevsenticedWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#23,825
“entice” frequency rank
#39,314
“enticed” frequency rank
63139
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature entice enticed
Definition To lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope. Having been tempted; Finding something enticing.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set entice and enticed apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
entice
7 ch
enticed

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: entice is averb and enticedanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “entice” sits inside “enticed”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63139, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

entice is recorded at frequency rank #23,825, classified as averb, pronounced /ɪnˈtaɪs/. enticed is at rank #39,314, 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 63139, this pair ranks #84,655 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of entice vs enticed

Shared letters: ceint. Private to "entice": -. Private to "enticed": d.

"entice" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "enticed" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • enticeenitce · enntice · entcie · enticce · entiec · enttice · etnice · netice
  • enticedenitced · ennticed · entcied · enticced · enticde · enticedd · entiecd · entticed

Frequency comparison

entice#23,825
enticed#39,314

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "entice" and "enticed" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "entice" is a verb and "enticed" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "entice" or "enticed"?
"entice" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,825 in our English list, against #39,314 for "enticed". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering entice vs enticed

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “entice”; for an adjective, it's “enticed”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “entice” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list