Which to use
“tarnish” is a noun and “tarnished” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #35,107
- “tarnish” frequency rank
- #30,999
- “tarnished” frequency rank
- 66106
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tarnish | tarnished |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Oxidation or discoloration, especially of a decorative metal exposed to air. | simple past and past participle of tarnish |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tarnish and tarnished apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tarnish is /ˈtɑːnɪʃ/ while tarnished is /ˈtɑɹnɪʃt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “tarnish” sits inside “tarnished”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66106, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tarnish is recorded at frequency rank #35,107, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈtɑːnɪʃ/. tarnished is at rank #30,999, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈtɑɹnɪʃt/.
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 66106, this pair ranks #69,574 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tarnish vs tarnished
Shared letters: ahinrst. Private to "tarnish": -. Private to "tarnished": de.
"tarnish" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "tarnished" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tarnish" and "tarnished" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "tarnish" or "tarnished"?
Remembering tarnish vs tarnished
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “tarnish”; for a verb, it's “tarnished”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tarnish” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable