grilledvsgrinnedWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,037
“grilled” frequency rank
#34,090
“grinned” frequency rank
45127
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature grilled grinned
Definition simple past and past participle of grill simple past and past participle of grin

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
grilled
7 ch
grinned

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. grilled (/ɡɹɪld/) and grinned (/ɡɹɪnd/) 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 45127, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

grilled is recorded at frequency rank #11,037, classified as averb, pronounced /ɡɹɪld/. grinned is at rank #34,090, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɡɹɪnd/.

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 45127, this pair ranks #224,173 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of grilled vs grinned

Shared letters: degir. Private to "grilled": l. Private to "grinned": n.

"grilled" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "grinned" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • grilledggrilled · girlled · griled · grileld · grillde · grilledd · grliled · grrilled
  • grinnedggrinned · girnned · grined · grinend · grinnde · grinnedd · grnined · grrinned

Frequency comparison

grilled#11,037
grinned#34,090

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "grilled" and "grinned" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ɡɹɪld/ versus /ɡɹɪnd/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "grilled" or "grinned"?
"grilled" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,037 in our English list, against #34,090 for "grinned". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering grilled vs grinned

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 “grilled” 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