gazedvsglazedWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: gazed is a verb, glazed is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gazed” is a verb and “glazed” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#35,734
“gazed” frequency rank
#18,571
“glazed” frequency rank
54305
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gazed glazed
Definition simple past and past participle of gaze Of eyes: glistening but not focusing on anything in particular; showing no liveliness.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set gazed and glazed apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
gazed
6 ch
glazed

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

gazed and glazed form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54305, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gazed is recorded at frequency rank #35,734, classified as averb, pronounced /ɡeɪzd/. glazed is at rank #18,571, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ɡleɪzd/.

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 54305, this pair ranks #142,113 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Frequency comparison

gazed#35,734
glazed#18,571

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gazed" and "glazed" be used interchangeably?
No, "gazed" and "glazed" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering gazed vs glazed

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “gazed”; for an adjective, it's “glazed”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “gazed” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list