Which to use
“imitate” and “imitated” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,863
- “imitate” frequency rank
- #32,038
- “imitated” frequency rank
- 51901
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | imitate | imitated |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To follow as a model or a pattern; to make a copy, counterpart or semblance of. | simple past and past participle of imitate |
Where the eye mixes imitate and imitated
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. imitate runs 7 letters (VCVCVCV) against imitated's 8 (VCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between imitate and imitated
A purely visual mix-up. imitate (/ˈɪmɪteɪt/) and imitated (/ˈɪmɪteɪtɪd/) 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) - “imitate” sits inside “imitated”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51901, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
imitate is recorded at frequency rank #19,863, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈɪmɪteɪt/. imitated is at rank #32,038, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈɪmɪteɪtɪd/.
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 51901, this pair ranks #161,529 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of imitate vs imitated
Shared letters: aeimt. Private to "imitate": -. Private to "imitated": d.
"imitate" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCV · "imitated" · 8 letters · shape VCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "imitate" and "imitated" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "imitate" or "imitated" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "imitate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "imitated" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #161,529 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "imitate" and "imitated" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "imitated vs irritated". 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 #161,529 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.