resistvsresistedWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“resist” and “resisted” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#5,163
“resist” frequency rank
#12,851
“resisted” frequency rank
18014
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature resist resisted
Definition To attempt to counter the actions or effects of. simple past and past participle of resist

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
resist
8 ch
resisted

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. resist (/ɹɪˈzɪst/) and resisted (/ɹɪˈzɪstɪd/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “resist” sits inside “resisted”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18014, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

resist is recorded at frequency rank #5,163, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈzɪst/. resisted is at rank #12,851, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈzɪstɪd/.

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 18014, this pair ranks #447,688 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of resist vs resisted

Shared letters: eirst. Private to "resist": -. Private to "resisted": d.

"resist" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "resisted" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • resistersist · reisst · resisst · resistt · resits · ressist · ressit · rresist
  • resistedersisted · reissted · resisetd · resissted · resistde · resistedd · resistted · resitsed

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "resist" and "resisted" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ɹɪˈzɪst/ versus /ɹɪˈzɪstɪd/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "resist" or "resisted"?
"resist" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,163 in our English list, against #12,851 for "resisted". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list