Which to use
“feared” and “featured” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,792
- “feared” frequency rank
- #3,362
- “featured” frequency rank
- 11154
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | feared | featured |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pertaining to someone or thing that causes great fear in others. | displayed with special treatment |
Where the eye mixes feared and featured
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. feared runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against featured's 8 (CVVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between feared and featured
A purely visual mix-up. feared (/fɪɹd/) and featured (/ˈfiːt͡ʃə(ɹ)d/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11154, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
feared is recorded at frequency rank #7,792, classified as anadj, pronounced /fɪɹd/. featured is at rank #3,362, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈfiːt͡ʃə(ɹ)d/.
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 11154, this pair ranks #488,610 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of feared vs featured
Shared letters: adefr. Private to "feared": -. Private to "featured": tu.
"feared" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "featured" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "feared" and "featured" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "feared" or "featured"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "feared" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "featured" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #488,610 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "feared" and "featured" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "feared vs flaked". 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 #488,610 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.