Which to use
“withdraw” is a verb and “withdrawn” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,644
- “withdraw” frequency rank
- #8,380
- “withdrawn” frequency rank
- 15024
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | withdraw | withdrawn |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To draw or pull (something) away or back from its original position or situation. | Removed from circulation. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set withdraw and withdrawn apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: withdraw is /wɪðˈdɹɔː/ while withdrawn is /wɪðˈdɹɔːn/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “withdraw” sits inside “withdrawn”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15024, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
withdraw is recorded at frequency rank #6,644, classified as averb, pronounced /wɪðˈdɹɔː/. withdrawn is at rank #8,380, tagged as anadj, pronounced /wɪðˈdɹɔːn/.
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 15024, this pair ranks #466,514 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of withdraw vs withdrawn
Shared letters: adhirtw. Private to "withdraw": -. Private to "withdrawn": n.
"withdraw" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCCVC · "withdrawn" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCCVCC