Which to use
“spirited” and “spirits” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,027
- “spirited” frequency rank
- #5,553
- “spirits” frequency rank
- 19580
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spirited | spirits |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of spirit | third-person singular simple present indicative of spirit |
Where the eye mixes spirited and spirits
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: spirited vs spirits
A purely visual mix-up. spirited (/ˈspɪɹɪtɪd/) and spirits (/ˈspɪɹɪts/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19580, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
spirited is recorded at frequency rank #14,027, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈspɪɹɪtɪd/. spirits is at rank #5,553, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈspɪɹɪts/.
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 19580, this pair ranks #437,159 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of spirited vs spirits
Shared letters: iprst. Private to "spirited": de. Private to "spirits": -.
"spirited" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC · "spirits" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "spirited" and "spirits" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "spirited" or "spirits" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "spirited" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spirits" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #437,159 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spirited" and "spirits" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "skirted vs spirited". 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 #437,159 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.