Which to use
“feed” and “fried” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,155
- “feed” frequency rank
- #6,472
- “fried” frequency rank
- 8627
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | feed | fried |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To give (someone or something) food to eat. | simple past and past participle of fry |
Where the eye mixes feed and fried
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: feed vs fried
A purely visual mix-up. feed (/ˈfiːd/) and fried (/fɹaɪd/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8627, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
feed is recorded at frequency rank #2,155, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈfiːd/. fried is at rank #6,472, tagged as averb, pronounced /fɹaɪd/.
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 8627, this pair ranks #501,551 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of feed vs fried
Shared letters: def. Private to "feed": -. Private to "fried": ir.
"feed" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "fried" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "feed" and "fried" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "feed" or "fried"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "feed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fried" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #501,551 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "feed" and "fried" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fredo vs fried". 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 #501,551 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.