Which to use
“rush” is a noun and “rushed” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,133
- “rush” frequency rank
- #7,387
- “rushed” frequency rank
- 10520
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rush | rushed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A sudden forward motion. | Very busy. |
Where the eye mixes rush and rushed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses rush with rushed
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rush is /ɹʌʃ/ while rushed is /ɹʌʃt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “rush” sits inside “rushed”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10520, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rush is recorded at frequency rank #3,133, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɹʌʃ/. rushed is at rank #7,387, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ɹʌʃt/.
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 10520, this pair ranks #491,907 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of rush vs rushed
Shared letters: hrsu. Private to "rush": -. Private to "rushed": de.
"rush" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "rushed" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "rush" and "rushed" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "rush" or "rushed" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "rush" and "rushed" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "rush" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rushed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #491,907 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rush" and "rushed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "roused vs rushed". 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 #491,907 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.