Which to use
“sped” is a verb and “spiked” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,782
- “sped” frequency rank
- #21,666
- “spiked” frequency rank
- 42448
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sped | spiked |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of speed | Containing alcohol or drugs, often without the knowledge of those who partake. |
Letter map: sped vs spiked
Shared letters muted; letters that set sped and spiked apart highlighted. Shared run: 4. sped runs 4 letters (CCVC) against spiked's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Grammar separator: sped vs spiked
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: sped is averb and spikedanadjective. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42448, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sped is recorded at frequency rank #20,782, classified as averb, pronounced /spɛd/. 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 42448, this pair ranks #249,102 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sped vs spiked
Shared letters: deps. Private to "sped": -. Private to "spiked": ik.
"sped" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "spiked" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sped" for "spiked" ever safe?
Frequency check: "sped" vs "spiked" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pair "sped" vs "spiked" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "sped" 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 #249,102 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sped" and "spiked" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sez vs sped". 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 #249,102 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.