restedvsroutedWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: rested is a adjective, routed is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“rested” is an adjective and “routed” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#13,229
“rested” frequency rank
#19,442
“routed” frequency rank
32671
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rested routed
Definition recovered simple past and past participle of route

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set rested and routed apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
rested
6 ch
routed

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rested is /ˈɹɛstɪd/ while routed is /ˈɹuː.tɪd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32671, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rested is recorded at frequency rank #13,229, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈɹɛstɪd/. 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 32671, this pair ranks #335,894 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of rested vs routed

Shared letters: dert. Private to "rested": s. Private to "routed": ou.

"rested" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "routed" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • restedersted · resetd · ressted · restde · restedd · restted · retsed · rrested
  • routedoruted · rotued · rouetd · routde · routedd · routted · rrouted · ruoted

Frequency comparison

rested#13,229
routed#19,442

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "rested" and "routed" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "rested" is an adjective and "routed" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "rested" or "routed"?
"rested" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,229 in our English list, against #19,442 for "routed". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering rested vs routed

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “rested”; for a verb, it's “routed”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “rested” 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