Which to use
“sed” is a name and “sewed” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,340
- “sed” frequency rank
- #33,413
- “sewed” frequency rank
- 64753
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sed | sewed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A noninteractive text editor (originally developed in Unix), intended for making systematic edits in an automatic or batch-oriented way. | simple past and past participle of sew |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sed and sewed apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sed is /sɛd/ while sewed is /ˈsoʊd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64753, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sed is recorded at frequency rank #31,340, classified as aname, pronounced /sɛd/. sewed is at rank #33,413, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈsoʊd/.
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 64753, this pair ranks #76,143 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of sed vs sewed
Shared letters: des. Private to "sed": -. Private to "sewed": w.
"sed" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "sewed" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- sewed ← eswed · seewd · sewedd · sewwed · ssewed
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "sed" and "sewed" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "sed" or "sewed"?
Remembering sed vs sewed
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a name, it's “sed”; for a verb, it's “sewed”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “sed” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable