Which to use
“permitted” and “persisted” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,821
- “permitted” frequency rank
- #18,651
- “persisted” frequency rank
- 24472
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | permitted | persisted |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of permit | simple past and past participle of persist |
Where the eye mixes permitted and persisted
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. permitted and persisted follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses permitted with persisted
A purely visual mix-up. permitted (/pɚˈmɪtɪd/) and persisted (/pɚˈsɪstɪd/) 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 24472, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
permitted is recorded at frequency rank #5,821, classified as averb, pronounced /pɚˈmɪtɪd/. persisted is at rank #18,651, tagged as averb, pronounced /pɚˈsɪstɪd/.
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 24472, this pair ranks #401,692 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of permitted vs persisted
Shared letters: deiprt. Private to "permitted": m. Private to "persisted": s.
"permitted" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "persisted" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "permitted" and "persisted" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "permitted" vs "persisted" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "permitted" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "persisted" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #401,692 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "permitted" and "persisted" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "perished vs persisted". 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 #401,692 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.