intentionalvsintentionedWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“intentional” and “intentioned” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#10,874
“intentional” frequency rank
#32,448
“intentioned” frequency rank
43322
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature intentional intentioned
Definition Intended or planned; done deliberately or voluntarily. Having a certain intention

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set intentional and intentioned apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

11 ch
intentional
11 ch
intentioned

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

intentional and intentioned are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43322, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

intentional is recorded at frequency rank #10,874, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɪnˈtɛnʃənəl/. intentioned is at rank #32,448, tagged as anadj.

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 43322, this pair ranks #241,107 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of intentional vs intentioned

Shared letters: einot. Private to "intentional": al. Private to "intentioned": d.

"intentional" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVVCVC  ·  "intentioned" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • intentionalinetntional · inntentional · intenitonal · intenntional · intentinoal · intentioanl · intentionall · intentionla
  • intentionedinetntioned · inntentioned · intenitoned · intenntioned · intentinoed · intentioend · intentionde · intentionedd

Frequency comparison

intentional#10,874
intentioned#32,448

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "intentional" and "intentioned" be used interchangeably?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "intentional" or "intentioned"?
"intentional" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,874 in our English list, against #32,448 for "intentioned". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering intentional vs intentioned

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 “intentional” 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