suppliedvssupposedWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“supplied” and “supposed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#4,802
“supplied” frequency rank
#1,321
“supposed” frequency rank
6123
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature supplied supposed
Definition simple past and past participle of supply simple past and past participle of suppose

Where the eye mixes supplied and supposed

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
supplied
8 ch
supposed

Visual trap between supplied and supposed

A purely visual mix-up. supplied (/səˈplaɪd/) and supposed (/səˈpəʊzd/) 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 6123, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

supplied is recorded at frequency rank #4,802, classified as averb, pronounced /səˈplaɪd/. supposed is at rank #1,321, tagged as averb, pronounced /səˈpəʊzd/.

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 6123, this pair ranks #512,658 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of supplied vs supposed

Shared letters: depsu. Private to "supplied": il. Private to "supposed": o.

"supplied" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVVC  ·  "supposed" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • suppliedspuplied · ssupplied · suplied · suplpied · suppiled · suppleid · supplide · suppliedd
  • supposedspuposed · ssupposed · supopsed · suposed · suppoesd · supposde · supposedd · suppossed

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "supplied" for "supposed" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/səˈplaɪd/ versus /səˈpəʊzd/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary English text, does "supplied" or "supposed" show up more?
"supposed" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,321 in our English list, against #4,802 for "supplied". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "supplied" and "supposed" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "supplied" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "supposed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #512,658 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "supplied" and "supposed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "supple vs supplied". 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 #512,658 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list