# widow vs widowed

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### widow
*noun · IPA /ˈwɪd.əʊ/ · frequency rank #6,317*
A person whose spouse is absent:

### widowed
*adjective · frequency rank #24,057*
Whose spouse has died or is gone missing; who has become a widow or widower.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/widow-vs-widowed