# impair vs impaired

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### impair
*verb · IPA /ɪmˈpɛə(ɹ)/ · frequency rank #31,616*
To weaken; to affect negatively; to have a diminishing effect on.

### impaired
*adjective · IPA /ɪmˈpɛrd/ · frequency rank #11,558*
Rendered less effective.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/impair-vs-impaired