Which to use
“sped” and “spin” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,782
- “sped” frequency rank
- #3,786
- “spin” frequency rank
- 24568
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sped | spin |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of speed | To rotate, revolve, gyrate (usually quickly); to partially or completely rotate to face another direction. |
Where the eye mixes sped and spin
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between sped and spin
A purely visual mix-up. sped (/spɛd/) and spin (/spɪn/) 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 24568, 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/. spin is at rank #3,786, tagged as averb, pronounced /spɪn/.
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 24568, this pair ranks #401,011 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sped vs spin
Shared letters: ps. Private to "sped": de. Private to "spin": in.
"sped" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "spin" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sped" for "spin" ever safe?
Frequency check: "sped" vs "spin" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "sped" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spin" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #401,011 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sped" and "spin" 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 #401,011 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.