Which to use
“proposed” and “provoked” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,010
- “proposed” frequency rank
- #14,819
- “provoked” frequency rank
- 16829
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | proposed | provoked |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of propose | simple past and past participle of provoke |
Where the eye mixes proposed and provoked
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. proposed and provoked follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: proposed vs provoked
A purely visual mix-up. proposed (/pɹəˈpoʊzd/) and provoked (/pɹəˈvoʊkt/) 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 16829, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
proposed is recorded at frequency rank #2,010, classified as averb, pronounced /pɹəˈpoʊzd/. provoked is at rank #14,819, tagged as averb, pronounced /pɹəˈvoʊkt/.
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 16829, this pair ranks #455,336 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of proposed vs provoked
Shared letters: deopr. Private to "proposed": s. Private to "provoked": kv.
"proposed" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC · "provoked" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "proposed" and "provoked" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "proposed" vs "provoked" - 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 "proposed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "provoked" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #455,336 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "proposed" and "provoked" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "proposed vs purposed". 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 #455,336 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.