Which to use
“proclaim” and “proclaimed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,467
- “proclaim” frequency rank
- #10,110
- “proclaimed” frequency rank
- 30577
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | proclaim | proclaimed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To announce or declare. | simple past and past participle of proclaim |
Where the eye mixes proclaim and proclaimed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses proclaim with proclaimed
A purely visual mix-up. proclaim (/pɹəʊˈkleɪm/) and proclaimed (/pɹoʊˈkleɪmd/) 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) - “proclaim” sits inside “proclaimed”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30577, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
proclaim is recorded at frequency rank #20,467, classified as averb, pronounced /pɹəʊˈkleɪm/. proclaimed is at rank #10,110, tagged as averb, pronounced /pɹoʊˈkleɪmd/.
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 30577, this pair ranks #353,427 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of proclaim vs proclaimed
Shared letters: acilmopr. Private to "proclaim": -. Private to "proclaimed": de.
"proclaim" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVVC · "proclaimed" · 10 letters · shape CCVCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- proclaim ← porclaim · pproclaim · prcolaim · procalim · procclaim · proclaimm · proclami · procliam
- proclaimed ← porclaimed · pproclaimed · prcolaimed · procalimed · procclaimed · proclaiemd · proclaimde · proclaimedd
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "proclaim" and "proclaimed" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "proclaim" vs "proclaimed" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "proclaim" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "proclaimed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #353,427 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- 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 #353,427 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.