tailedvstailoredConfusable pair

Quick tell: tailed is a verb, tailored is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tailed” is a verb and “tailored” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,202
“tailed” frequency rank
#13,821
“tailored” frequency rank
32023
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tailed tailored
Definition simple past and past participle of tail Adjusted by a tailor, fitted.

Letter map: tailed vs tailored

Shared letters muted; letters that set tailed and tailored apart highlighted. Shared run: 6.

6 ch
tailed
8 ch
tailored

Role in the sentence - tailed and tailored

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: tailed is averb and tailoredanadjective. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32023, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tailed is recorded at frequency rank #18,202, classified as averb, pronounced /teɪld/. tailored is at rank #13,821, tagged as anadj.

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 32023, this pair ranks #341,236 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tailed vs tailored

Shared letters: adeilt. Private to "tailed": -. Private to "tailored": or.

"tailed" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "tailored" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tailedatiled · taield · tailde · tailedd · tailled · talied · tialed · ttailed
  • tailoredatilored · taillored · tailoerd · tailorde · tailoredd · tailorred · tailroed · taiolred

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tailed" and "tailored" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tailed" is a verb and "tailored" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "tailed" vs "tailored" - which ranks higher?
"tailored" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,821 in our English list, against #18,202 for "tailed". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "tailed" and "tailored".

  • Full dictionary entry for "tailed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tailored" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #341,236 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tailed" and "tailored" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tailed vs tanked". 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 #341,236 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