Which to use
“target” is a noun and “targeted” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,619
- “target” frequency rank
- #4,986
- “targeted” frequency rank
- 6605
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | target | targeted |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A butt or mark to shoot at, as for practice, or to test the accuracy of a firearm, or the force of a projectile. | Having something aimed at it. |
Letter map: target vs targeted
Shared letters muted; letters that set target and targeted apart highlighted. Shared run: 6. target runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against targeted's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Part-of-speech tell for target / targeted
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: target is anoun and targetedanadjective. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “target” sits inside “targeted”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6605, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
target is recorded at frequency rank #1,619, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈtɑː.ɡɪt/. targeted is at rank #4,986, 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 6605, this pair ranks #510,748 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of target vs targeted
Shared letters: aegrt. Private to "target": -. Private to "targeted": d.
"target" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "targeted" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "target" and "targeted" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "target" vs "targeted" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "target" and "targeted".
- Full dictionary entry for "target" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "targeted" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #510,748 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "target" and "targeted" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tarek vs target". 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 #510,748 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.