Which to use
“plead” and “pleaded” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,475
- “plead” frequency rank
- #11,939
- “pleaded” frequency rank
- 24414
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | plead | pleaded |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To present (an argument or a plea), especially in a legal case. | simple past and past participle of plead |
Where the eye mixes plead and pleaded
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between plead and pleaded
A purely visual mix-up. plead (/pliːd/) and pleaded (/ˈpliːdɪd/) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “plead” sits inside “pleaded”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24414, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
plead is recorded at frequency rank #12,475, classified as averb, pronounced /pliːd/. pleaded is at rank #11,939, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈpliːdɪd/.
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 24414, this pair ranks #402,146 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of plead vs pleaded
Shared letters: adelp. Private to "plead": -. Private to "pleaded": -.
"plead" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "pleaded" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "plead" and "pleaded" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "plead" or "pleaded"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "plead" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pleaded" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #402,146 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "plead" and "pleaded" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "plead vs plied". 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 #402,146 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.