freedvsfreezeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“freed” and “freeze” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#8,931
“freed” frequency rank
#5,965
“freeze” frequency rank
14896
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature freed freeze
Definition simple past and past participle of free Especially of a liquid, to become solid due to low temperature.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set freed and freeze apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
freed
6 ch
freeze

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. freed (/fɹiːd/) and freeze (/ˈfɹiːz/) 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 14896, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

freed is recorded at frequency rank #8,931, classified as averb, pronounced /fɹiːd/. freeze is at rank #5,965, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈfɹiːz/.

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 14896, this pair ranks #467,304 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of freed vs freeze

Shared letters: efr. Private to "freed": d. Private to "freeze": z.

"freed" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC  ·  "freeze" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • freedfered · ffreed · frede · freedd · frreed · rfeed
  • freezefereze · ffreeze · freeez · freezze · freze · frezee · frreeze · rfeeze

Frequency comparison

freed#8,931
freeze#5,965

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "freed" and "freeze" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/fɹiːd/ versus /ˈfɹiːz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "freed" or "freeze"?
"freeze" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,965 in our English list, against #8,931 for "freed". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering freed vs freeze

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “freed” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list