Which to use
“prayed” and “proved” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,761
- “prayed” frequency rank
- #3,126
- “proved” frequency rank
- 14887
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | prayed | proved |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of pray | simple past and past participle of prove |
Where the eye mixes prayed and proved
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: prayed vs proved
A purely visual mix-up. prayed (/pɹeɪd/) 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 14887, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
prayed is recorded at frequency rank #11,761, classified as averb, pronounced /pɹeɪd/. 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 14887, this pair ranks #467,355 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of prayed vs proved
Shared letters: depr. Private to "prayed": ay. Private to "proved": ov.
"prayed" · 6 letters · shape CCVVVC · "proved" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "prayed" and "proved" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "prayed" vs "proved" - 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 "prayed" 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 #467,355 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "prayed" and "proved" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prayed vs pruned". 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 #467,355 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.