Which to use
“gilded” and “guided” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,607
- “gilded” frequency rank
- #6,474
- “guided” frequency rank
- 26081
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gilded | guided |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of gild | simple past and past participle of guide |
Where the eye mixes gilded and guided
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between gilded and guided
A purely visual mix-up. gilded (/ˈɡɪldɪd/) and guided (/ˈɡaɪdɪd/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26081, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gilded is recorded at frequency rank #19,607, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈɡɪldɪd/. guided is at rank #6,474, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈɡaɪdɪd/.
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 26081, this pair ranks #389,348 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of gilded vs guided
Shared letters: degi. Private to "gilded": l. Private to "guided": u.
"gilded" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "guided" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "gilded" and "guided" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "gilded" vs "guided" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "gilded" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "guided" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #389,348 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gilded" and "guided" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gilda vs gilded". 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 #389,348 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.