scentedvsstuntedWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: scented is a adjective, stunted is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“scented” is an adjective and “stunted” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#19,691
“scented” frequency rank
#30,247
“stunted” frequency rank
49938
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature scented stunted
Definition Having a pleasant aroma. simple past and past participle of stunt

Letter map: scented vs stunted

Shared letters muted; letters that set scented and stunted apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. scented and stunted follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
scented
7 ch
stunted

Role in the sentence - scented and stunted

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: scented is anadjective and stuntedaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49938, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

scented is recorded at frequency rank #19,691, classified as anadj. stunted is at rank #30,247, 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 49938, this pair ranks #178,875 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of scented vs stunted

Shared letters: denst. Private to "scented": c. Private to "stunted": u.

"scented" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "stunted" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • scentedcsented · sccented · scenetd · scennted · scentde · scentedd · scentted · scetned
  • stuntedsstunted · stnuted · sttunted · stunetd · stunnted · stuntde · stuntedd · stuntted

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "scented" and "stunted" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "scented" is an adjective and "stunted" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "scented" or "stunted"?
"scented" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,691 in our English list, against #30,247 for "stunted". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pair "scented" vs "stunted" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "scented" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "stunted" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #178,875 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "scented" and "stunted" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stilted vs stunted". 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 #178,875 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list