Which to use
“overran” and “overrun” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,294
- “overran” frequency rank
- #18,149
- “overrun” frequency rank
- 59443
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | overran | overrun |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past of overrun | To defeat an enemy and invade in great numbers, seizing the enemy positions conclusively. |
Where the eye mixes overran and overrun
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: overran vs overrun
A purely visual mix-up. overran (/ˌəʊ.vəˈɹæn/) and overrun (/ˌəʊ.vəˈɹʌn/) 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 a single letter - a in “overran” becomes u in “overrun”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59443, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
overran is recorded at frequency rank #41,294, classified as averb, pronounced /ˌəʊ.vəˈɹæn/. overrun is at rank #18,149, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˌəʊ.vəˈɹʌn/.
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 59443, this pair ranks #106,135 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of overran vs overrun
Shared letters: enorv. Private to "overran": a. Private to "overrun": u.
"overran" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC · "overrun" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "overran" and "overrun" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "overran" or "overrun"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "overran" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "overrun" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #106,135 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "overran" and "overrun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "overhang vs overran". 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 #106,135 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.