Which to use
“shared” is an adjective and “swayed” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,128
- “shared” frequency rank
- #22,518
- “swayed” frequency rank
- 24646
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shared | swayed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Used by multiple entities or for multiple purposes or in multiple ways. | simple past and past participle of sway |
Where the eye mixes shared and swayed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between shared and swayed
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: shared is /ʃɛːd/ while swayed is /sweɪd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24646, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shared is recorded at frequency rank #2,128, classified as anadj, pronounced /ʃɛːd/. swayed is at rank #22,518, tagged as averb, pronounced /sweɪd/.
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 24646, this pair ranks #400,461 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of shared vs swayed
Shared letters: ades. Private to "shared": hr. Private to "swayed": wy.
"shared" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "swayed" · 6 letters · shape CCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "shared" for "swayed" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "shared" or "swayed" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "shared" and "swayed" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "shared" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "swayed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #400,461 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shared" and "swayed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "skated vs swayed". 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 #400,461 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.