Which to use
“pause” and “paused” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,166
- “pause” frequency rank
- #17,689
- “paused” frequency rank
- 24855
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pause | paused |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To take a temporary rest, take a break for a short period after an effort. | simple past and past participle of pause |
Where the eye mixes pause and paused
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses pause with paused
A purely visual mix-up. pause (/pɔːz/) and paused (/pɔːzd/) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “pause” sits inside “paused”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24855, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pause is recorded at frequency rank #7,166, classified as averb, pronounced /pɔːz/. paused is at rank #17,689, tagged as averb, pronounced /pɔːzd/.
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 24855, this pair ranks #398,817 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pause vs paused
Shared letters: aepsu. Private to "pause": -. Private to "paused": d.
"pause" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "paused" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pause" for "paused" ever safe?
Frequency check: "pause" vs "paused" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "pause" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "paused" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #398,817 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pause" and "paused" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "paused vs pruned". 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 #398,817 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.