Which to use
“varied” and “varies” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,854
- “varied” frequency rank
- #7,868
- “varies” frequency rank
- 14722
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | varied | varies |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of vary | third-person singular simple present indicative of vary |
Where the eye mixes varied and varies
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. varied and varies follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between varied and varies
A purely visual mix-up. varied (/ˈvɛəɹid/) and varies (/ˈvæɹiːz/) 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 a single letter - d in “varied” becomes s in “varies”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14722, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
varied is recorded at frequency rank #6,854, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈvɛəɹid/. varies is at rank #7,868, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈvæɹiːz/.
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 14722, this pair ranks #468,349 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of varied vs varies
Shared letters: aeirv. Private to "varied": d. Private to "varies": s.
"varied" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "varies" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "varied" and "varies" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "varied" or "varies"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "varied" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "varies" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #468,349 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "varied" and "varies" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Valdes vs varies". 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 #468,349 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.