Which to use
“planted” and “pointed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,724
- “planted” frequency rank
- #3,250
- “pointed” frequency rank
- 9974
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | planted | pointed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of plant | simple past and past participle of point |
Where the eye mixes planted and pointed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses planted with pointed
A purely visual mix-up. planted (/ˈplɑːntɪd/) and pointed (/ˈpɔɪntɪd/) 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 9974, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
planted is recorded at frequency rank #6,724, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈplɑːntɪd/. pointed is at rank #3,250, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈpɔɪntɪd/.
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 9974, this pair ranks #494,660 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of planted vs pointed
Shared letters: denpt. Private to "planted": al. Private to "pointed": io.
"planted" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "pointed" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "planted" and "pointed" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "planted" vs "pointed" - 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 "planted" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pointed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #494,660 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "planted" and "pointed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pointed vs pounced". 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 #494,660 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.