Which to use
“skilled” and “skinned” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,841
- “skilled” frequency rank
- #14,219
- “skinned” frequency rank
- 20060
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | skilled | skinned |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Having or showing skill; skillful. | Having skin. |
Where the eye mixes skilled and skinned
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses skilled with skinned
A purely visual mix-up. skilled (/skɪld/) and skinned (/skɪnd/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20060, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
skilled is recorded at frequency rank #5,841, classified as anadj, pronounced /skɪld/. skinned is at rank #14,219, tagged as anadj, pronounced /skɪnd/.
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 20060, this pair ranks #433,763 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of skilled vs skinned
Shared letters: deiks. Private to "skilled": l. Private to "skinned": n.
"skilled" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "skinned" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "skilled" for "skinned" ever safe?
Which is more common, "skilled" or "skinned"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "skilled" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "skinned" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #433,763 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "skilled" and "skinned" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "skinned vs skirted". 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 #433,763 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.