Which to use
“indented” is an adjective and “invested” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,269
- “indented” frequency rank
- #5,228
- “invested” frequency rank
- 49497
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | indented | invested |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Cut in the edge into points or inequalities, like teeth; dented on the surface; jagged; notched; stamped in. | simple past and past participle of invest |
Where the eye mixes indented and invested
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. indented and invested follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: indented vs invested
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: indented is /ɪnˈdɛntɪd/ while invested is /ɪnˈvɛstɪd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49497, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
indented is recorded at frequency rank #44,269, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɪnˈdɛntɪd/. invested is at rank #5,228, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɪnˈvɛstɪd/.
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 49497, this pair ranks #183,002 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of indented vs invested
Shared letters: deint. Private to "indented": -. Private to "invested": sv.
"indented" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "invested" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "indented" and "invested" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "indented" or "invested"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "indented" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "invested" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #183,002 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "indented" and "invested" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "indented vs indentured". 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 #183,002 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.