Which to use
“renown” is a noun and “renowned” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25,185
- “renown” frequency rank
- #7,603
- “renowned” frequency rank
- 32788
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | renown | renowned |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Fame; celebrity; wide recognition. | Famous, celebrated, or well-known; widely praised or highly honored. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set renown and renowned apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: renown is /ɹɪˈnaʊn/ while renowned is /ɹɪˈnaʊnd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “renown” sits inside “renowned”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32788, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
renown is recorded at frequency rank #25,185, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɹɪˈnaʊn/. renowned is at rank #7,603, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ɹɪˈnaʊnd/.
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 32788, this pair ranks #334,909 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of renown vs renowned
Shared letters: enorw. Private to "renown": -. Private to "renowned": d.
"renown" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "renowned" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "renown" and "renowned" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "renown" or "renowned"?
Remembering renown vs renowned
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “renown”; for an adjective, it's “renowned”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “renown” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable