Which to use
“tempt” and “tempted” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,957
- “tempt” frequency rank
- #8,870
- “tempted” frequency rank
- 30827
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tempt | tempted |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To provoke someone to do wrong, especially by promising a reward; to entice. | simple past and past participle of tempt |
Where the eye mixes tempt and tempted
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses tempt with tempted
A purely visual mix-up. tempt (/tɛmpt/) and tempted (/ˈtɛmptɪd/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “tempt” sits inside “tempted”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30827, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tempt is recorded at frequency rank #21,957, classified as averb, pronounced /tɛmpt/. tempted is at rank #8,870, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈtɛmptɪd/.
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 30827, this pair ranks #351,271 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tempt vs tempted
Shared letters: empt. Private to "tempt": -. Private to "tempted": d.
"tempt" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "tempted" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "tempt" and "tempted" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "tempt" or "tempted"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "tempt" and "tempted" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "tempt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tempted" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #351,271 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tempt" and "tempted" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tempt vs tet". 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 #351,271 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.