Which to use
“underline” is a noun and “underlined” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #29,874
- “underline” frequency rank
- #25,629
- “underlined” frequency rank
- 55503
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | underline | underlined |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A line placed underneath a piece of text in order to provide emphasis or to indicate that it should be viewed in italics or (in electronic documents) that it acts as a hyperlink. | simple past and past participle of underline |
Letter map: underline vs underlined
Shared letters muted; letters that set underline and underlined apart highlighted. Shared run: 9.
Grammar separator: underline vs underlined
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: underline is anoun and underlinedaverb. On the page they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “underline” sits inside “underlined”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55503, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
underline is recorded at frequency rank #29,874, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈʌndɚˌlaɪn/. underlined is at rank #25,629, tagged as averb.
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 55503, this pair ranks #133,151 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of underline vs underlined
Shared letters: deilnru. Private to "underline": -. Private to "underlined": -.
"underline" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV · "underlined" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- underline ← nuderline · udnerline · undderline · undelrine · underilne · underlien · underlinne · underlline
- underlined ← nuderlined · udnerlined · undderlined · undelrined · underilned · underliend · underlinde · underlinedd
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "underline" for "underlined" ever safe?
Which is more common, "underline" or "underlined"?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "underline" and "underlined".
- Full dictionary entry for "underline" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "underlined" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #133,151 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "underline" and "underlined" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "underline vs undertone". 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 #133,151 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.