Which to use
“supported” is an adjective and “supposed” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,134
- “supported” frequency rank
- #1,321
- “supposed” frequency rank
- 3455
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | supported | supposed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Held in position, especially from below. | simple past and past participle of suppose |
Where the eye mixes supported and supposed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between supported and supposed
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: supported is /səˈpɔɹtɪd/ while supposed is /səˈpəʊzd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3455, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
supported is recorded at frequency rank #2,134, classified as anadj, pronounced /səˈpɔɹtɪd/. 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 3455, this pair ranks #522,057 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of supported vs supposed
Shared letters: deopsu. Private to "supported": rt. Private to "supposed": -.
"supported" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "supposed" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "supported" for "supposed" ever safe?
Which is more common, "supported" or "supposed"?
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 "supported" 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 #522,057 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "supported" and "supposed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "supposed vs supposedly". 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 #522,057 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.