regarded vs regards, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#4,402
“regarded” frequency rank: #5,161
“regards” frequency rank: 9563
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	regarded	regards
Definition	simple past and past participle of regard	plural of regard

Where the spellings diverge

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

8 ch

regarded

7 ch

regards

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: regarded is /ɹɪˈɡɑː.dəd/ while regards is /ɹɪˈɡɑɹdz/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9563, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

regarded is recorded at frequency rank #4,402, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈɡɑː.dəd/. regards is at rank #5,161, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɹɪˈɡɑɹdz/.

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 9563, this pair ranks #496,771 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of regarded vs regards

Shared letters: adegr. Private to "regarded": -. Private to "regards": s.

"regarded" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "regards" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

regarded ← ergarded · reagrded · regadred · regardde · regardded · regardedd · regaredd · regarrded
regards ← ergards · reagrds · regadrs · regardds · regardss · regarrds · regarsd · reggards

Frequency comparison

regarded#4,402

regards#5,161

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "regarded" and "regards" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "regarded" is a verb and "regards" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "regarded" or "regards"?

"regarded" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,402 in our English list, against #5,161 for "regards". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering regarded vs regards

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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