Which to use
“spared” and “spread” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,330
- “spared” frequency rank
- #1,650
- “spread” frequency rank
- 13980
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spared | spread |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of spare | To stretch out, open out (a material etc.) so that it more fully covers a given area of space. |
Where the eye mixes spared and spread
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: spared vs spread
A purely visual mix-up. spared (/ˈspɛɹd/) and spread (/spɹɛd/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they are an anagram pair: the same letters reordered. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13980, 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/. spread is at rank #1,650, tagged as averb, pronounced /spɹɛd/.
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 13980, this pair ranks #472,758 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of spared vs spread
Shared letters: adeprs. Private to "spared": -. Private to "spread": -.
"spared" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "spread" · 6 letters · shape CCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "spared" and "spread" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "spared" vs "spread" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "spared" and "spread" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "spared" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spread" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #472,758 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spared" and "spread" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "snares vs spared". 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 #472,758 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.