solicitvssolicitedTell them apart

Which to use

“solicit” and “solicited” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#26,968
“solicit” frequency rank
#31,771
“solicited” frequency rank
58739
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature solicit solicited
Definition To persistently endeavor to obtain an object, or bring about an event. simple past and past participle of solicit

Where the eye mixes solicit and solicited

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

7 ch
solicit
9 ch
solicited

Look-alike desk: solicit vs solicited

A purely visual mix-up. solicit (/səˈlɪsɪt/) and solicited (/səˈlɪsɪtɪd/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “solicit” sits inside “solicited”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58739, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

solicit is recorded at frequency rank #26,968, classified as averb, pronounced /səˈlɪsɪt/. solicited is at rank #31,771, tagged as averb, pronounced /səˈlɪsɪtɪd/.

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 58739, this pair ranks #110,636 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of solicit vs solicited

Shared letters: cilost. Private to "solicit": -. Private to "solicited": de.

"solicit" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "solicited" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • solicitoslicit · sloicit · soilcit · solciit · soliccit · solicitt · solicti · soliict
  • solicitedoslicited · sloicited · soilcited · solciited · soliccited · solicietd · solicitde · solicitedd

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "solicit" and "solicited" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/səˈlɪsɪt/ versus /səˈlɪsɪtɪd/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "solicit" vs "solicited" - which ranks higher?
"solicit" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,968 in our English list, against #31,771 for "solicited". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "solicit" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "solicited" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #110,636 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "solicit" and "solicited" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "solicit vs solidity". 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 #110,636 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list