entitle vs entitled, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#41,106
“entitle” frequency rank: #2,943
“entitled” frequency rank: 44049
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	entitle	entitled
Definition	To give a title to.	Having a title.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set entitle and entitled apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

entitle

8 ch

entitled

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: entitle is /ənˈtaɪtəl/ while entitled is /ɪnˈtaɪtl̩d/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “entitle” sits inside “entitled”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44049, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

entitle is recorded at frequency rank #41,106, classified as averb, pronounced /ənˈtaɪtəl/. entitled is at rank #2,943, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ɪnˈtaɪtl̩d/.

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 44049, this pair ranks #234,177 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of entitle vs entitled

Shared letters: eilnt. Private to "entitle": -. Private to "entitled": d.

"entitle" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV · "entitled" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

entitle ← enittle · enntitle · entilte · entitel · entitlle · entittle · enttile · enttitle
entitled ← enittled · enntitled · entilted · entiteld · entitlde · entitledd · entitlled · entittled

Frequency comparison

entitle#41,106

entitled#2,943

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "entitle" and "entitled" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "entitle" is a verb and "entitled" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "entitle" or "entitled"?

"entitled" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,943 in our English list, against #41,106 for "entitle". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering entitle vs entitled

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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