tastedvstossedConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#11,306
“tasted” frequency rank
#10,466
“tossed” frequency rank
21772
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tasted tossed
Definition simple past and past participle of taste simple past and past participle of toss

Where the eye mixes tasted and tossed

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

6 ch
tasted
6 ch
tossed

Visual trap between tasted and tossed

A purely visual mix-up. tasted (/ˈteɪstɪd/) 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 21772, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tasted is recorded at frequency rank #11,306, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈteɪstɪd/. 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 21772, this pair ranks #421,457 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tasted vs tossed

Shared letters: dest. Private to "tasted": a. Private to "tossed": o.

"tasted" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "tossed" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tastedatsted · tasetd · tassted · tastde · tastedd · tastted · tatsed · ttasted
  • tossedotssed · tosed · tosesd · tossde · tossedd · tsosed · ttossed

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tasted" for "tossed" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈteɪstɪd/ versus /tɒst/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "tasted" vs "tossed" - which ranks higher?
"tossed" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,466 in our English list, against #11,306 for "tasted". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "tasted" and "tossed" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tasted" 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 #421,457 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tasted" and "tossed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tasted vs tater". 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 #421,457 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