Which to use
“washed” and “waved” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,109
- “washed” frequency rank
- #14,250
- “waved” frequency rank
- 20359
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | washed | waved |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of wash | simple past and past participle of wave |
Where the eye mixes washed and waved
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: washed vs waved
A purely visual mix-up. washed (/wɒʃt/) and waved (/weɪvd/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20359, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
washed is recorded at frequency rank #6,109, classified as averb, pronounced /wɒʃt/. waved is at rank #14,250, tagged as averb, pronounced /weɪvd/.
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 20359, this pair ranks #431,629 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of washed vs waved
Shared letters: adew. Private to "washed": hs. Private to "waved": v.
"washed" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "waved" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "washed" for "waved" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "washed" or "waved" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "washed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "waved" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #431,629 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "washed" and "waved" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "waved vs wove". 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 #431,629 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.