Which to use
“indenture” is a noun and “indentured” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #43,205
- “indenture” frequency rank
- #38,904
- “indentured” frequency rank
- 82109
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | indenture | indentured |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A contract which binds a person to work for another, under specified conditions, for a specified time (often as an apprentice). | Subject to an indenture. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set indenture and indentured apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: indenture is /ɪnˈdɛn.ʃɝ/ while indentured is /ɪnˈdɛn.t͡ʃəd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “indenture” sits inside “indentured”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82109, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
indenture is recorded at frequency rank #43,205, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɪnˈdɛn.ʃɝ/. indentured is at rank #38,904, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ɪnˈdɛn.t͡ʃəd/.
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 82109, this pair ranks #16,372 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of indenture vs indentured
Shared letters: deinrtu. Private to "indenture": -. Private to "indentured": -.
"indenture" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV · "indentured" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- indenture ← idnenture · inddenture · indennture · indentrue · indentture · indentuer · indenturre · indenutre
- indentured ← idnentured · inddentured · indenntured · indentrued · indenttured · indentuerd · indenturde · indenturedd
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "indenture" and "indentured" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "indenture" or "indentured"?
Remembering indenture vs indentured
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “indenture”; for an adjective, it's “indentured”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “indenture” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable