Which to use
“scaled” is a verb and “seared” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,014
- “scaled” frequency rank
- #33,840
- “seared” frequency rank
- 47854
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | scaled | seared |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of scale | blackened by heat; scorched; burned |
Letter map: scaled vs seared
Shared letters muted; letters that set scaled and seared apart highlighted. Shared run: 4. scaled (CCVCVC) and seared (CVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Role in the sentence - scaled and seared
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: scaled is averb and searedanadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47854, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
scaled is recorded at frequency rank #14,014, classified as averb, pronounced /skeɪld/. seared is at rank #33,840, 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 47854, this pair ranks #198,562 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of scaled vs seared
Shared letters: ades. Private to "scaled": cl. Private to "seared": r.
"scaled" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "seared" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "scaled" and "seared" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "scaled" or "seared"?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "scaled" and "seared".
- Full dictionary entry for "scaled" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "seared" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #198,562 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "scaled" and "seared" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Seager vs seared". 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 #198,562 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.