# tarnish vs tarnished

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### tarnish
*noun · IPA /ˈtɑːnɪʃ/ · frequency rank #35,107*
Oxidation or discoloration, especially of a decorative metal exposed to air.

### tarnished
*verb · IPA /ˈtɑɹnɪʃt/ · frequency rank #30,999*
simple past and past participle of tarnish

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tarnish-vs-tarnished