warrantvswarrantedWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: warrant is a noun, warranted is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“warrant” is a noun and “warranted” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,812
“warrant” frequency rank
#17,270
“warranted” frequency rank
22082
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature warrant warranted
Definition Authorization or certification; a sanction, as given by a superior. Authorized with a warrant.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set warrant and warranted apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
warrant
9 ch
warranted

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: warrant is anoun and warrantedanadjective. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “warrant” sits inside “warranted”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22082, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

warrant is recorded at frequency rank #4,812, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈwɒɹənt/. warranted is at rank #17,270, tagged as anadj.

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 22082, this pair ranks #419,242 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of warrant vs warranted

Shared letters: anrtw. Private to "warrant": -. Private to "warranted": de.

"warrant" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "warranted" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • warrantawrrant · warant · wararnt · warrannt · warrantt · warratn · warrnat · wrarant
  • warrantedawrranted · waranted · wararnted · warranetd · warrannted · warrantde · warrantedd · warrantted

Frequency comparison

warrant#4,812
warranted#17,270

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "warrant" and "warranted" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "warrant" is a noun and "warranted" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "warrant" or "warranted"?
"warrant" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,812 in our English list, against #17,270 for "warranted". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering warrant vs warranted

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “warrant”; for an adjective, it's “warranted”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “warrant” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list