Which to use
“indulged” and “indulgent” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,093
- “indulged” frequency rank
- #25,795
- “indulgent” frequency rank
- 55888
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | indulged | indulgent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Having had all desires, wishes, and whims granted; having been brought up lavishly, wanting for nothing. | Disposed or prone to indulge, humor, gratify, or yield to one's own or another's desires, etc., or to be compliant, lenient, or forbearing. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set indulged and indulgent apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. indulged (/ɪnˈdʌld͡ʒd/) and indulgent (/ɪnˈdʌld͡ʒənt/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55888, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
indulged is recorded at frequency rank #30,093, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɪnˈdʌld͡ʒd/. indulgent is at rank #25,795, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ɪnˈdʌld͡ʒənt/.
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 55888, this pair ranks #130,190 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of indulged vs indulgent
Shared letters: degilnu. Private to "indulged": -. Private to "indulgent": t.
"indulged" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "indulgent" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "indulged" and "indulgent" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "indulged" or "indulgent"?
Remembering indulged vs indulgent
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “indulged” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable