Which to use
“soiled” and “sorted” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,237
- “soiled” frequency rank
- #9,253
- “sorted” frequency rank
- 39490
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | soiled | sorted |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of soil | simple past and past participle of sort |
Where the eye mixes soiled and sorted
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses soiled with sorted
A purely visual mix-up. soiled (/ˈsɔɪld/) and sorted (/ˈsɔɹtɪd/) 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 39490, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
soiled is recorded at frequency rank #30,237, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈsɔɪld/. sorted is at rank #9,253, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈsɔɹtɪd/.
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 39490, this pair ranks #276,201 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of soiled vs sorted
Shared letters: deos. Private to "soiled": il. Private to "sorted": rt.
"soiled" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "sorted" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "soiled" and "sorted" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "soiled" or "sorted"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "soiled" and "sorted" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "soiled" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sorted" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #276,201 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "soiled" and "sorted" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "soiled vs stilted". 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 #276,201 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.