Which to use
“linked” is an adjective and “looked” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,797
- “linked” frequency rank
- #811
- “looked” frequency rank
- 3608
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | linked | looked |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Connected, either with links, or as if with links. | simple past and past participle of look |
Where the eye mixes linked and looked
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between linked and looked
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: linked is /lɪŋkt/ while looked is /lʊkt/. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3608, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
linked is recorded at frequency rank #2,797, classified as anadj, pronounced /lɪŋkt/. looked is at rank #811, tagged as averb, pronounced /lʊkt/.
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 3608, this pair ranks #521,593 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of linked vs looked
Shared letters: dekl. Private to "linked": in. Private to "looked": o.
"linked" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "looked" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "linked" and "looked" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "linked" vs "looked" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "linked" and "looked" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "linked" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "looked" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #521,593 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "linked" and "looked" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "linked 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 #521,593 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.