Which to use
“rolled” and “rowed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,079
- “rolled” frequency rank
- #38,141
- “rowed” frequency rank
- 43220
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rolled | rowed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of roll | simple past and past participle of row |
Where the eye mixes rolled and rowed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: rolled vs rowed
A purely visual mix-up. rolled (/ɹəʊld/) and rowed (/ɹəʊd/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43220, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rolled is recorded at frequency rank #5,079, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹəʊld/. rowed is at rank #38,141, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɹəʊd/.
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 43220, this pair ranks #242,085 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of rolled vs rowed
Shared letters: deor. Private to "rolled": l. Private to "rowed": w.
"rolled" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "rowed" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "rolled" for "rowed" ever safe?
Frequency check: "rolled" vs "rowed" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "rolled" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rowed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #242,085 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rolled" and "rowed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rood vs rowed". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #242,085 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.