Which to use
“forged” and “forked” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,849
- “forged” frequency rank
- #30,428
- “forked” frequency rank
- 41277
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | forged | forked |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Fake (as documents); falsified. | That splits into two or more directions, or parts. |
Where the eye mixes forged and forked
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: forged vs forked
A purely visual mix-up. forged (/fɔːd͡ʒd/) and forked (/fɔː(ɹ)kt/) 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 a single letter - g in “forged” becomes k in “forked”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41277, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
forged is recorded at frequency rank #10,849, classified as anadj, pronounced /fɔːd͡ʒd/. forked is at rank #30,428, tagged as anadj, pronounced /fɔː(ɹ)kt/.
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 41277, this pair ranks #259,950 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of forged vs forked
Shared letters: defor. Private to "forged": g. Private to "forked": k.
"forged" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "forked" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "forged" and "forked" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "forged" vs "forked" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "forged" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "forked" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #259,950 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "forged" and "forked" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "flaked vs forked". 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 #259,950 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.