racedvsrecedeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: raced is a adjective, recede is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“raced” is an adjective and “recede” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#13,221
“raced” frequency rank
#41,339
“recede” frequency rank
54560
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature raced recede
Definition Pertaining to or marked in terms of race. To move back; to retreat; to withdraw.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set raced and recede apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
raced
6 ch
recede

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: raced is anadjective and recedeaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54560, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

raced is recorded at frequency rank #13,221, classified as anadj. recede is at rank #41,339, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈsiːd/.

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 54560, this pair ranks #140,147 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of raced vs recede

Shared letters: cder. Private to "raced": a. Private to "recede": -.

"raced" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "recede" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • racedarced · racced · racde · racedd · raecd · rcaed · rraced
  • recedeercede · rceede · reccede · recdee · recedde · receed · reecde · rrecede

Frequency comparison

raced#13,221
recede#41,339

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "raced" and "recede" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "raced" is an adjective and "recede" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "raced" or "recede"?
"raced" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,221 in our English list, against #41,339 for "recede". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering raced vs recede

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “raced”; for a verb, it's “recede”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “raced” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list