Which to use
“persecute” and “persecuted” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,625
- “persecute” frequency rank
- #16,768
- “persecuted” frequency rank
- 54393
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | persecute | persecuted |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To pursue in a manner to do harm or cruelty to; especially, because of the victim's race, sexual identity, or adherence to a particular belief. | simple past and past participle of persecute |
Where the eye mixes persecute and persecuted
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between persecute and persecuted
A purely visual mix-up. persecute (/ˈpɝsəkjut/) and persecuted (/ˈpɝsəˌkjutɪd/) 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) - “persecute” sits inside “persecuted”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54393, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
persecute is recorded at frequency rank #37,625, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈpɝsəkjut/. persecuted is at rank #16,768, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈpɝsəˌkjutɪd/.
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 54393, this pair ranks #141,421 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of persecute vs persecuted
Shared letters: ceprstu. Private to "persecute": -. Private to "persecuted": d.
"persecute" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV · "persecuted" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- persecute ← eprsecute · perescute · perrsecute · persceute · perseccute · persectue · persecuet · persecutte
- persecuted ← eprsecuted · perescuted · perrsecuted · persceuted · perseccuted · persectued · persecuetd · persecutde
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "persecute" and "persecuted" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "persecute" or "persecuted"?
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 "persecute" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "persecuted" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #141,421 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "persecute" and "persecuted" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "persecute vs prosecute". 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 #141,421 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.