Which to use
“flatten” is a verb and “flattened” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #29,657
- “flatten” frequency rank
- #18,080
- “flattened” frequency rank
- 47737
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | flatten | flattened |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To make something flat or flatter. | Made flat by something. |
Letter map: flatten vs flattened
Shared letters muted; letters that set flatten and flattened apart highlighted. Shared run: 7.
Grammar separator: flatten vs flattened
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: flatten is averb and flattenedanadjective. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “flatten” sits inside “flattened”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47737, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
flatten is recorded at frequency rank #29,657, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈflæ.tən/. flattened is at rank #18,080, 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 47737, this pair ranks #199,681 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of flatten vs flattened
Shared letters: aeflnt. Private to "flatten": -. Private to "flattened": d.
"flatten" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "flattened" · 9 letters · shape CCVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "flatten" and "flattened" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "flatten" vs "flattened" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
You've compared "flatten" and "flattened". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "flatten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "flattened" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #199,681 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "flatten" and "flattened" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "flatbed vs flatten". 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 #199,681 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.