Which to use
“focused” is an adjective and “fused” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,253
- “focused” frequency rank
- #17,147
- “fused” frequency rank
- 19400
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | focused | fused |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Directing all one's efforts towards achieving a particular goal. | simple past and past participle of fuse |
Where the eye mixes focused and fused
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses focused with fused
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: focused is /ˈfəʊ.kəst/ while fused is /fjuːzd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19400, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
focused is recorded at frequency rank #2,253, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈfəʊ.kəst/. fused is at rank #17,147, tagged as averb, pronounced /fjuːzd/.
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 19400, this pair ranks #438,437 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of focused vs fused
Shared letters: defsu. Private to "focused": co. Private to "fused": -.
"focused" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "fused" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "focused" and "fused" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "focused" or "fused"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "focused" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fused" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #438,437 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "focused" and "fused" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fluted vs fused". 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 #438,437 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.