Which to use
“linger” and “longed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,382
- “linger” frequency rank
- #26,496
- “longed” frequency rank
- 45878
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | linger | longed |
|---|---|---|
| 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 long |
Where the eye mixes linger and longed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses linger with longed
A purely visual mix-up. linger (/ˈlɪŋɡɚ/) and longed (/ˈlɔŋd/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45878, 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/. longed is at rank #26,496, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈlɔŋd/.
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 45878, this pair ranks #217,026 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of linger vs longed
Shared letters: egln. Private to "linger": ir. Private to "longed": do.
"linger" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "longed" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "linger" and "longed" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "linger" or "longed"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "linger" and "longed" 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 "longed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #217,026 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "linger" and "longed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lodger vs longed". 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 #217,026 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.