Which to use
“headed” is an adjective and “heave” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,736
- “headed” frequency rank
- #32,841
- “heave” frequency rank
- 35577
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | headed | heave |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Of a sheet of paper: having the sender's name, address, etc. preprinted at the top. | To lift with difficulty; to raise with some effort; to lift (a heavy thing). |
Where the eye mixes headed and heave
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses headed with heave
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: headed is /ˈhɛdɪd/ while heave is /hiːv/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35577, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
headed is recorded at frequency rank #2,736, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈhɛdɪd/. heave is at rank #32,841, tagged as averb, pronounced /hiːv/.
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 35577, this pair ranks #310,772 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of headed vs heave
Shared letters: aeh. Private to "headed": d. Private to "heave": v.
"headed" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "heave" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "headed" for "heave" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "headed" or "heave" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "headed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "heave" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #310,772 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "headed" and "heave" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "heave vs Hoare". 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 #310,772 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.