Which to use
“untold” is an adjective and “uphold” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,239
- “untold” frequency rank
- #14,663
- “uphold” frequency rank
- 33902
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | untold | uphold |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Not told; not related; not revealed; secret. | To hold up; to lift on high; to elevate. |
Where the eye mixes untold and uphold
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. untold and uphold follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses untold with uphold
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: untold is /ʌnˈtəʊld/ while uphold is /ˌʌpˈhəʊld/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33902, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
untold is recorded at frequency rank #19,239, classified as anadj, pronounced /ʌnˈtəʊld/. uphold is at rank #14,663, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˌʌpˈhəʊld/.
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 33902, this pair ranks #325,405 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of untold vs uphold
Shared letters: dlou. Private to "untold": nt. Private to "uphold": hp.
"untold" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC · "uphold" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "untold" and "uphold" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "untold" or "uphold" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "untold" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "uphold" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #325,405 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "untold" and "uphold" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "untied vs untold". 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 #325,405 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.