Which to use
“passed” and “pulsed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,281
- “passed” frequency rank
- #35,470
- “pulsed” frequency rank
- 36751
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | passed | pulsed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of pass | simple past and past participle of pulse |
Where the eye mixes passed and pulsed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses passed with pulsed
A purely visual mix-up. passed (/pɑːst/) and pulsed (/pʌlst/) 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 36751, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
passed is recorded at frequency rank #1,281, classified as averb, pronounced /pɑːst/. pulsed is at rank #35,470, tagged as averb, pronounced /pʌlst/.
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 36751, this pair ranks #300,475 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of passed vs pulsed
Shared letters: deps. Private to "passed": a. Private to "pulsed": lu.
"passed" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "pulsed" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "passed" and "pulsed" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "passed" vs "pulsed" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "passed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pulsed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #300,475 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "passed" and "pulsed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "plied vs pulsed". 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 #300,475 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.