ravagedvsravagesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ravaged is a verb, ravages is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ravaged” is a verb and “ravages” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#23,375
“ravaged” frequency rank
#39,048
“ravages” frequency rank
62423
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ravaged ravages
Definition simple past and past participle of ravage Harsh damage.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ravaged and ravages apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
ravaged
7 ch
ravages

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: ravaged is averb and ravagesanoun. On the page they differ by a single letter - d in “ravaged” becomes s in “ravages”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62423, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ravaged is recorded at frequency rank #23,375, classified as averb. ravages is at rank #39,048, tagged as anoun.

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 62423, this pair ranks #88,603 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ravaged vs ravages

Shared letters: aegrv. Private to "ravaged": d. Private to "ravages": s.

"ravaged" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "ravages" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ravagedarvaged · raavged · ravaegd · ravagde · ravagedd · ravagged · ravgaed · ravvaged
  • ravagesarvages · raavges · ravaegs · ravagess · ravagges · ravagse · ravgaes · ravvages

Frequency comparison

ravaged#23,375
ravages#39,048

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ravaged" and "ravages" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ravaged" is a verb and "ravages" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ravaged" or "ravages"?
"ravaged" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,375 in our English list, against #39,048 for "ravages". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ravaged vs ravages

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “ravaged”; for a noun, it's “ravages”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ravaged” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list