Which to use
“weigh” and “weighed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,303
- “weigh” frequency rank
- #9,554
- “weighed” frequency rank
- 16857
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | weigh | weighed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To determine the weight of an object. | simple past and past participle of weigh |
Where the eye mixes weigh and weighed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. weigh runs 5 letters (CVVCC) against weighed's 7 (CVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses weigh with weighed
A purely visual mix-up. weigh (/weɪ/) and weighed (/weɪd/) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “weigh” sits inside “weighed”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16857, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
weigh is recorded at frequency rank #7,303, classified as averb, pronounced /weɪ/. weighed is at rank #9,554, tagged as averb, pronounced /weɪd/.
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 16857, this pair ranks #455,161 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of weigh vs weighed
Shared letters: eghiw. Private to "weigh": -. Private to "weighed": d.
"weigh" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "weighed" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "weigh" for "weighed" ever safe?
Frequency check: "weigh" vs "weighed" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "weigh" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "weighed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #455,161 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "weigh" and "weighed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "weigh vs wench". 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 #455,161 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.