Which to use
“search” is a noun and “searched” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,174
- “search” frequency rank
- #7,499
- “searched” frequency rank
- 8673
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | search | searched |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An attempt to find something. | simple past and past participle of search |
Where the eye mixes search and searched
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: search is /sɜːt͡ʃ/ while searched is /sɝt͡ʃt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “search” sits inside “searched”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8673, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
search is recorded at frequency rank #1,174, classified as anoun, pronounced /sɜːt͡ʃ/. searched is at rank #7,499, tagged as averb, pronounced /sɝt͡ʃt/.
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 8673, this pair ranks #501,294 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of search vs searched
Shared letters: acehrs. Private to "search": -. Private to "searched": d.
"search" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCC · "searched" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCCVC