Which to use
“pled” and “pooled” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #40,395
- “pled” frequency rank
- #29,792
- “pooled” frequency rank
- 70187
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pled | pooled |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of plead | simple past and past participle of pool |
Where the eye mixes pled and pooled
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between pled and pooled
A purely visual mix-up. pled (/plɛd/) and pooled (/puːld/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70187, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pled is recorded at frequency rank #40,395, classified as averb, pronounced /plɛd/. pooled is at rank #29,792, tagged as averb, pronounced /puːld/.
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 70187, this pair ranks #51,533 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of pled vs pooled
Shared letters: delp. Private to "pled": -. Private to "pooled": o.
"pled" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "pooled" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pled" for "pooled" ever safe?
Frequency check: "pled" vs "pooled" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "pled" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pooled" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #51,533 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pled" and "pooled" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pled 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 #51,533 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.