invadedvsinvalidTell them apart

Quick tell: invaded is a verb, invalid is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“invaded” is a verb and “invalid” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#10,561
“invaded” frequency rank
#9,908
“invalid” frequency rank
20469
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature invaded invalid
Definition simple past and past participle of invade Not valid; not true, correct, acceptable or appropriate.

Where the eye mixes invaded and invalid

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
invaded
7 ch
invalid

Why the eye confuses invaded with invalid

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: invaded is /ɪnˈveɪdɪd/ while invalid is /ɪnˈvæl.ɪd/. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20469, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

invaded is recorded at frequency rank #10,561, classified as averb, pronounced /ɪnˈveɪdɪd/. invalid is at rank #9,908, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ɪnˈvæl.ɪd/.

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 20469, this pair ranks #430,872 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of invaded vs invalid

Shared letters: adinv. Private to "invaded": e. Private to "invalid": l.

"invaded" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "invalid" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • invadedinavded · innvaded · invadde · invadded · invadedd · invaedd · invdaed · invvaded
  • invalidinavlid · innvalid · invaild · invaldi · invalidd · invallid · invlaid · invvalid

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "invaded" and "invalid" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "invaded" is a verb and "invalid" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary English text, does "invaded" or "invalid" show up more?
"invalid" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,908 in our English list, against #10,561 for "invaded". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "invaded" and "invalid" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "invaded" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "invalid" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #430,872 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "invaded" and "invalid" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "inlaid vs invalid". 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 #430,872 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list