# impaired vs impaled

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

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

### impaled
*adjective · IPA /ɪmˈpeɪld/ · frequency rank #37,983*
Pinned to something by piercing.

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