Which to use
“teased” and “tossed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,229
- “teased” frequency rank
- #10,466
- “tossed” frequency rank
- 29695
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | teased | tossed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of tease | simple past and past participle of toss |
Where the eye mixes teased and tossed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. teased (CVVCVC) and tossed (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses teased with tossed
A purely visual mix-up. teased (/tiːzd/) 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 29695, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
teased is recorded at frequency rank #19,229, classified as averb, pronounced /tiːzd/. 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 29695, this pair ranks #360,806 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of teased vs tossed
Shared letters: dest. Private to "teased": a. Private to "tossed": o.
"teased" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "tossed" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "teased" for "tossed" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "teased" or "tossed" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "teased" 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 #360,806 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "teased" and "tossed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "teared vs teased". 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 #360,806 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.