Which to use
“kill” and “killed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #852
- “kill” frequency rank
- #607
- “killed” frequency rank
- 1459
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kill | killed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To put to death; to extinguish the life of. | simple past and past participle of kill |
Where the eye mixes kill and killed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between kill and killed
A purely visual mix-up. kill (/kɪl/) and killed (/kɪld/) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “kill” sits inside “killed”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1459, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kill is recorded at frequency rank #852, classified as averb, pronounced /kɪl/. killed is at rank #607, tagged as averb, pronounced /kɪld/.
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 1459, this pair ranks #527,388 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of kill vs killed
Shared letters: ikl. Private to "kill": -. Private to "killed": de.
"kill" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "killed" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "kill" and "killed" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "kill" or "killed"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "kill" and "killed" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "kill" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "killed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #527,388 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kill" and "killed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kill vs Kroll". 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 #527,388 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.