incensedvsincreasedWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: incensed is a adjective, increased is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“incensed” is an adjective and “increased” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#37,042
“incensed” frequency rank
#1,308
“increased” frequency rank
38350
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature incensed increased
Definition Enraged; infuriated; spitefully or furiously angry. simple past and past participle of increase

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set incensed and increased apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
incensed
9 ch
increased

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: incensed is anadjective and increasedaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38350, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

incensed is recorded at frequency rank #37,042, classified as anadj. increased is at rank #1,308, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɪnˈkɹiːst/.

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 38350, this pair ranks #286,661 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of incensed vs increased

Shared letters: cdeins. Private to "incensed": -. Private to "increased": ar.

"incensed" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "increased" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • incensedicnensed · inccensed · incenesd · incennsed · incensde · incensedd · incenssed · incesned
  • increasedicnreased · inccreased · incerased · incraesed · increaesd · increasde · increasedd · increassed

Frequency comparison

incensed#37,042
increased#1,308

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "incensed" and "increased" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "incensed" is an adjective and "increased" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "incensed" or "increased"?
"increased" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,308 in our English list, against #37,042 for "incensed". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering incensed vs increased

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “incensed”; for a verb, it's “increased”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “incensed” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list