Which to use
“scour” is a verb and “scoured” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,216
- “scour” frequency rank
- #35,066
- “scoured” frequency rank
- 65282
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | scour | scoured |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To clean, polish, or wash (something) by rubbing and scrubbing it vigorously, frequently with an abrasive or cleaning agent. | Wool that has undergone scouring to remove grease. |
Letter map: scour vs scoured
Shared letters muted; letters that set scour and scoured apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. scour runs 5 letters (CCVVC) against scoured's 7 (CCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Grammar separator: scour vs scoured
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: scour is averb and scouredanoun. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “scour” sits inside “scoured”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65282, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
scour is recorded at frequency rank #30,216, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈskaʊə/. scoured is at rank #35,066, tagged as anoun.
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 65282, this pair ranks #73,533 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of scour vs scoured
Shared letters: corsu. Private to "scour": -. Private to "scoured": de.
"scour" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "scoured" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "scour" and "scoured" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "scour" or "scoured" show up more?
After this comparison
Pair "scour" vs "scoured" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "scour" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "scoured" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #73,533 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "scour" and "scoured" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "SCO vs scour". 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 #73,533 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.