Which to use
“trusted” is a verb and “trusts” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,172
- “trusted” frequency rank
- #9,681
- “trusts” frequency rank
- 14853
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | trusted | trusts |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of trust | plural of trust |
Where the eye mixes trusted and trusts
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses trusted with trusts
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: trusted is /ˈtɹʌstɪd/ while trusts is /tɹʌsts/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14853, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
trusted is recorded at frequency rank #5,172, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈtɹʌstɪd/. trusts is at rank #9,681, tagged as anoun, pronounced /tɹʌsts/.
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 14853, this pair ranks #467,581 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of trusted vs trusts
Shared letters: rstu. Private to "trusted": de. Private to "trusts": -.
"trusted" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "trusts" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "trusted" and "trusts" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "trusted" or "trusts" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "trusted" and "trusts" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "trusted" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "trusts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #467,581 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "trusted" and "trusts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "trusts vs tryst". 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 #467,581 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.