Which to use
“stepped” and “stopped” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,165
- “stepped” frequency rank
- #1,542
- “stopped” frequency rank
- 6707
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stepped | stopped |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of step | simple past and past participle of stop |
Where the eye mixes stepped and stopped
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between stepped and stopped
A purely visual mix-up. stepped (/stɛpt/) and stopped (/stɑpt/) 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 a single letter - e in “stepped” becomes o in “stopped”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6707, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stepped is recorded at frequency rank #5,165, classified as averb, pronounced /stɛpt/. stopped is at rank #1,542, tagged as averb, pronounced /stɑpt/.
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 6707, this pair ranks #510,308 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of stepped vs stopped
Shared letters: depst. Private to "stepped": -. Private to "stopped": o.
"stepped" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "stopped" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "stepped" for "stopped" ever safe?
Frequency check: "stepped" vs "stopped" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "stepped" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stopped" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #510,308 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stepped" and "stopped" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stepped vs stooped". 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 #510,308 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.