Which to use
“spared” is a verb and “spiked” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,330
- “spared” frequency rank
- #21,666
- “spiked” frequency rank
- 33996
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spared | spiked |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of spare | Containing alcohol or drugs, often without the knowledge of those who partake. |
Letter map: spared vs spiked
Shared letters muted; letters that set spared and spiked apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.
Role in the sentence - spared and spiked
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: spared is averb and spikedanadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33996, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
spared is recorded at frequency rank #12,330, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈspɛɹd/. spiked is at rank #21,666, tagged as anadj.
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 33996, this pair ranks #324,563 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of spared vs spiked
Shared letters: deps. Private to "spared": ar. Private to "spiked": ik.
"spared" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "spiked" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "spared" and "spiked" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "spared" or "spiked" show up more?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "spared" and "spiked".
- Full dictionary entry for "spared" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spiked" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #324,563 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spared" and "spiked" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "spiel vs spiked". 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 #324,563 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.