Which to use
“linger” and “lingered” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,382
- “linger” frequency rank
- #32,897
- “lingered” frequency rank
- 52279
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | linger | lingered |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To stay or remain in a place or situation, especially as if unwilling to depart or not easily able to do so. | simple past and past participle of linger |
Where the eye mixes linger and lingered
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: linger vs lingered
A purely visual mix-up. linger (/ˈlɪŋɡɚ/) and lingered (/ˈlɪŋɡɚd/) 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) - “linger” sits inside “lingered”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52279, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
linger is recorded at frequency rank #19,382, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈlɪŋɡɚ/. lingered is at rank #32,897, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈlɪŋɡɚd/.
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 52279, this pair ranks #158,404 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of linger vs lingered
Shared letters: egilnr. Private to "linger": -. Private to "lingered": d.
"linger" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "lingered" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "linger" for "lingered" ever safe?
Frequency check: "linger" vs "lingered" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "linger" and "lingered" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "linger" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lingered" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #158,404 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "linger" and "lingered" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "linger vs linker". 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 #158,404 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.