ignore vs ignored, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#3,109
“ignore” frequency rank: #4,533
“ignored” frequency rank: 7642
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	ignore	ignored
Definition	To deliberately not listen or pay attention to.	simple past and past participle of ignore

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ignore and ignored apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

ignore

7 ch

ignored

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. ignore (/ɪɡˈnɔː/) and ignored (/ɪɡˈnɔɹd/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “ignore” sits inside “ignored”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7642, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ignore is recorded at frequency rank #3,109, classified as averb, pronounced /ɪɡˈnɔː/. ignored is at rank #4,533, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɪɡˈnɔɹd/.

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 7642, this pair ranks #506,236 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ignore vs ignored

Shared letters: eginor. Private to "ignore": -. Private to "ignored": d.

"ignore" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV · "ignored" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

ignore ← ginore · iggnore · ignnore · ignoer · ignorre · ignroe · igonre · ingore
ignored ← ginored · iggnored · ignnored · ignoerd · ignorde · ignoredd · ignorred · ignroed

Frequency comparison

ignore#3,109

ignored#4,533

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ignore" and "ignored" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/ɪɡˈnɔː/ versus /ɪɡˈnɔɹd/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "ignore" or "ignored"?

"ignore" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,109 in our English list, against #4,533 for "ignored". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ignore vs ignored

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 “ignore” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable