Which to use
“routed” and “rowed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,442
- “routed” frequency rank
- #38,141
- “rowed” frequency rank
- 57583
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | routed | rowed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of route | simple past and past participle of row |
Where the eye mixes routed and rowed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between routed and rowed
A purely visual mix-up. routed (/ˈɹuː.tɪd/) 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 57583, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
routed is recorded at frequency rank #19,442, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈɹuː.tɪd/. 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 57583, this pair ranks #118,374 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of routed vs rowed
Shared letters: deor. Private to "routed": tu. Private to "rowed": w.
"routed" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "rowed" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "routed" for "rowed" ever safe?
Which is more common, "routed" or "rowed"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "routed" 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 #118,374 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "routed" 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 #118,374 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.