Which to use
“plowed” and “proved” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,708
- “plowed” frequency rank
- #3,126
- “proved” frequency rank
- 34834
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | plowed | proved |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of plow | simple past and past participle of prove |
Where the eye mixes plowed and proved
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: plowed vs proved
A purely visual mix-up. plowed (/plaʊd/) and proved (/ˈpɹuːvd/) 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 34834, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
plowed is recorded at frequency rank #31,708, classified as averb, pronounced /plaʊd/. proved is at rank #3,126, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈpɹuːvd/.
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 34834, this pair ranks #317,257 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of plowed vs proved
Shared letters: deop. Private to "plowed": lw. Private to "proved": rv.
"plowed" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "proved" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "plowed" and "proved" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "plowed" vs "proved" - which ranks higher?
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 "plowed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "proved" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #317,257 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "plowed" and "proved" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "plied vs plowed". 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 #317,257 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.