Which to use
“pollute” is a verb and “polluted” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #34,640
- “pollute” frequency rank
- #19,168
- “polluted” frequency rank
- 53808
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pollute | polluted |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To make something harmful, especially by the addition of some unwanted product. | Made unclean or impure. |
Letter map: pollute vs polluted
Shared letters muted; letters that set pollute and polluted apart highlighted. Shared run: 7.
Role in the sentence - pollute and polluted
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: pollute is averb and pollutedanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “pollute” sits inside “polluted”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53808, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pollute is recorded at frequency rank #34,640, classified as averb, pronounced /pəˈluːt/. polluted is at rank #19,168, tagged as anadj.
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 53808, this pair ranks #146,042 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pollute vs polluted
Shared letters: eloptu. Private to "pollute": -. Private to "polluted": d.
"pollute" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "polluted" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pollute" for "polluted" ever safe?
Frequency check: "pollute" vs "polluted" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "pollute" and "polluted".
- Full dictionary entry for "pollute" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "polluted" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #146,042 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pollute" and "polluted" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "polite vs pollute". 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 #146,042 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.