graspedvsgrossedWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#28,224
“grasped” frequency rank
#23,286
“grossed” frequency rank
51510
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature grasped grossed
Definition simple past and past participle of grasp simple past and past participle of gross

Letter map: grasped vs grossed

Shared letters muted; letters that set grasped and grossed apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. grasped and grossed follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
grasped
7 ch
grossed

Spelling & dictionary notes on grasped vs grossed

grasped and grossed are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51510, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

grasped is recorded at frequency rank #28,224, classified as averb, pronounced /ɡɹæspt/. grossed is at rank #23,286, tagged as averb.

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 51510, this pair ranks #164,856 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of grasped vs grossed

Shared letters: degrs. Private to "grasped": ap. Private to "grossed": o.

"grasped" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "grossed" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • graspedgarsped · ggrasped · grapsed · grasepd · graspde · graspedd · graspped · grassped
  • grossedggrossed · gorssed · grosed · grosesd · grossde · grossedd · grrossed · grsosed

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "grasped" for "grossed" ever safe?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "grasped" or "grossed"?
"grossed" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,286 in our English list, against #28,224 for "grasped". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pair "grasped" vs "grossed" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "grasped" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "grossed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #164,856 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "grasped" and "grossed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "grasped vs grasse". 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 #164,856 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list