Which to use
“obsess” and “obsessed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,948
- “obsess” frequency rank
- #6,272
- “obsessed” frequency rank
- 39220
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | obsess | obsessed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To be preoccupied with a single topic or emotion. | simple past and past participle of obsess |
Where the eye mixes obsess and obsessed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between obsess and obsessed
A purely visual mix-up. obsess (/əbˈsɛs/) and obsessed (/əbˈsɛst/) 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) - “obsess” sits inside “obsessed”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39220, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
obsess is recorded at frequency rank #32,948, classified as averb, pronounced /əbˈsɛs/. obsessed is at rank #6,272, tagged as averb, pronounced /əbˈsɛst/.
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 39220, this pair ranks #278,681 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of obsess vs obsessed
Shared letters: beos. Private to "obsess": -. Private to "obsessed": d.
"obsess" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC · "obsessed" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "obsess" and "obsessed" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "obsess" or "obsessed"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "obsess" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "obsessed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #278,681 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "obsess" and "obsessed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "obese vs obsess". 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 #278,681 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.