Which to use
“intimidate” and “intimidated” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,372
- “intimidate” frequency rank
- #16,257
- “intimidated” frequency rank
- 35629
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | intimidate | intimidated |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To make timid or afraid; to cause to feel fear or nervousness; to deter, especially by threats of violence. | simple past and past participle of intimidate |
Where the eye mixes intimidate and intimidated
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between intimidate and intimidated
A purely visual mix-up. intimidate (/ɪnˈtɪmɪdeɪt/) and intimidated (/ɪnˈtɪm.ɪ.deɪ.tɪd/) 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 extra letter(s) - “intimidate” sits inside “intimidated”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35629, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
intimidate is recorded at frequency rank #19,372, classified as averb, pronounced /ɪnˈtɪmɪdeɪt/. intimidated is at rank #16,257, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɪnˈtɪm.ɪ.deɪ.tɪd/.
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 35629, this pair ranks #310,332 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of intimidate vs intimidated
Shared letters: adeimnt. Private to "intimidate": -. Private to "intimidated": -.
"intimidate" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCVCV · "intimidated" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- intimidate ← initmidate · inntimidate · intiimdate · intimdiate · intimiadte · intimidaet · intimidatte · intimiddate
- intimidated ← initmidated · inntimidated · intiimdated · intimdiated · intimiadted · intimidaetd · intimidatde · intimidatedd
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "intimidate" and "intimidated" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "intimidate" or "intimidated" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "intimidate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "intimidated" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #310,332 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "intimidate" and "intimidated" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "intimate vs intimidate". 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 #310,332 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.