taskedvstossedWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“tasked” and “tossed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#14,435
“tasked” frequency rank
#10,466
“tossed” frequency rank
24901
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tasked tossed
Definition simple past and past participle of task simple past and past participle of toss

Where the eye mixes tasked and tossed

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
tasked
6 ch
tossed

Look-alike desk: tasked vs tossed

A purely visual mix-up. tasked (/tæskt/) and tossed (/tɒst/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24901, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tasked is recorded at frequency rank #14,435, classified as averb, pronounced /tæskt/. tossed is at rank #10,466, tagged as averb, pronounced /tɒst/.

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 24901, this pair ranks #398,447 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tasked vs tossed

Shared letters: dest. Private to "tasked": ak. Private to "tossed": o.

"tasked" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "tossed" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • taskedatsked · taksed · tasekd · taskde · taskedd · taskked · tassked · tsaked
  • tossedotssed · tosed · tosesd · tossde · tossedd · tsosed · ttossed

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tasked" and "tossed" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/tæskt/ versus /tɒst/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "tasked" or "tossed"?
"tossed" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,466 in our English list, against #14,435 for "tasked". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tasked" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tossed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #398,447 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tasked" and "tossed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tasked vs tasker". 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 #398,447 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