Which to use
“scarred” and “starred” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,486
- “scarred” frequency rank
- #11,125
- “starred” frequency rank
- 31611
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | scarred | starred |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of scar | simple past and past participle of star |
Letter map: scarred vs starred
Shared letters muted; letters that set scarred and starred apart highlighted. Shared run: 6. scarred and starred follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Corpus notes: scarred and starred
scarred and starred are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by a single letter - c in “scarred” becomes t in “starred”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31611, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
scarred is recorded at frequency rank #20,486, classified as averb, pronounced /skɑː(ɹ)d/. starred is at rank #11,125, tagged as averb.
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 31611, this pair ranks #344,702 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of scarred vs starred
Shared letters: aders. Private to "scarred": c. Private to "starred": t.
"scarred" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "starred" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "scarred" for "starred" ever safe?
Frequency check: "scarred" vs "starred" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "scarred" and "starred".
- Full dictionary entry for "scarred" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "starred" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #344,702 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "scarred" and "starred" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stapled vs starred". 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 #344,702 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.