Which to use
“looped” is a verb and “loops” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,869
- “looped” frequency rank
- #12,096
- “loops” frequency rank
- 42965
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | looped | loops |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of loop | plural of loop |
Where the eye mixes looped and loops
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. looped runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against loops's 5 (CVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses looped with loops
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: looped is /luːpt/ while loops is /luːps/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42965, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
looped is recorded at frequency rank #30,869, classified as averb, pronounced /luːpt/. loops is at rank #12,096, tagged as anoun, pronounced /luːps/.
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 42965, this pair ranks #244,470 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of looped vs loops
Shared letters: lop. Private to "looped": de. Private to "loops": s.
"looped" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "loops" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "looped" for "loops" ever safe?
Frequency check: "looped" vs "loops" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "looped" and "loops" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "looped" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "loops" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #244,470 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "looped" and "loops" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "looped vs lope". 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 #244,470 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.