Which to use
“warned” and “worked” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,380
- “warned” frequency rank
- #725
- “worked” frequency rank
- 6105
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | warned | worked |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of warn | simple past and past participle of work |
Where the eye mixes warned and worked
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between warned and worked
A purely visual mix-up. warned (/wɔɹnd/) and worked (/wɜːkt/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6105, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
warned is recorded at frequency rank #5,380, classified as averb, pronounced /wɔɹnd/. worked is at rank #725, tagged as averb, pronounced /wɜːkt/.
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 6105, this pair ranks #512,730 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of warned vs worked
Shared letters: derw. Private to "warned": an. Private to "worked": ko.
"warned" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "worked" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "warned" for "worked" ever safe?
Frequency check: "warned" vs "worked" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "warned" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "worked" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #512,730 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "warned" and "worked" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "warned vs whined". 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 #512,730 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.