filtervsfilteredTell them apart

Quick tell: filter is a noun, filtered is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“filter” is a noun and “filtered” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,449
“filter” frequency rank
#14,760
“filtered” frequency rank
19209
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature filter filtered
Definition A device which separates a suspended, dissolved, or particulate matter from a fluid, solution, or other substance; any device that separates one substance from another. With a filter (e.g., a cigarette).

Letter map: filter vs filtered

Shared letters muted; letters that set filter and filtered apart highlighted. Shared run: 6.

6 ch
filter
8 ch
filtered

Role in the sentence - filter and filtered

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: filter is anoun and filteredanadjective. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “filter” sits inside “filtered”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19209, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

filter is recorded at frequency rank #4,449, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfɪltə/. filtered is at rank #14,760, 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 19209, this pair ranks #439,734 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of filter vs filtered

Shared letters: efilrt. Private to "filter": -. Private to "filtered": d.

"filter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "filtered" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • filterffilter · filetr · fillter · filterr · filtre · filtter · fitler · fliter
  • filteredffiltered · filetred · filltered · filteerd · filterde · filteredd · filterred · filtreed

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "filter" and "filtered" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "filter" is a noun and "filtered" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary English text, does "filter" or "filtered" show up more?
"filter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,449 in our English list, against #14,760 for "filtered". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "filter" and "filtered".

  • Full dictionary entry for "filter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "filtered" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #439,734 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "filter" and "filtered" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "filter vs fiver". 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 #439,734 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list