Which to use
“rumor” is a noun and “rumored” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,761
- “rumor” frequency rank
- #17,471
- “rumored” frequency rank
- 28232
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rumor | rumored |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A statement or claim of questionable accuracy, from no known reliable source, usually spread by word of mouth. | Widely reported without strong evidence. |
Letter map: rumor vs rumored
Shared letters muted; letters that set rumor and rumored apart highlighted. Shared run: 5.
Role in the sentence - rumor and rumored
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: rumor is anoun and rumoredanadjective. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “rumor” sits inside “rumored”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28232, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rumor is recorded at frequency rank #10,761, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɹuːmə(ɹ)/. rumored is at rank #17,471, tagged as anadj.
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 28232, this pair ranks #372,665 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of rumor vs rumored
Shared letters: moru. Private to "rumor": -. Private to "rumored": de.
"rumor" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "rumored" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "rumor" for "rumored" ever safe?
Which is more common, "rumor" or "rumored"?
After this comparison
You've compared "rumor" and "rumored". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "rumor" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rumored" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #372,665 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rumor" and "rumored" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ruhr vs rumor". 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 #372,665 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.