Which to use
“rated” is an adjective and “routed” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,324
- “rated” frequency rank
- #19,442
- “routed” frequency rank
- 23766
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rated | routed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Scolded, rebuked. | simple past and past participle of route |
Where the eye mixes rated and routed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses rated with routed
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rated is /ˈɹeɪtɪd/ while routed is /ˈɹuː.tɪd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23766, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rated is recorded at frequency rank #4,324, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈɹeɪtɪd/. routed is at rank #19,442, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈɹuː.tɪd/.
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 23766, this pair ranks #406,934 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of rated vs routed
Shared letters: dert. Private to "rated": a. Private to "routed": ou.
"rated" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "routed" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "rated" for "routed" ever safe?
Which is more common, "rated" or "routed"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "rated" and "routed" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "rated" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "routed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #406,934 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rated" and "routed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "roused vs routed". 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 #406,934 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.