Which to use
“withdrawn” is an adjective and “withdrew” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,380
- “withdrawn” frequency rank
- #10,972
- “withdrew” frequency rank
- 19352
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | withdrawn | withdrew |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Removed from circulation. | simple past of withdraw |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set withdrawn and withdrew apart are highlighted. They share 7 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These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: withdrawn is /wɪðˈdɹɔːn/ while withdrew is /wɪðˈdɹuː/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19352, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
withdrawn is recorded at frequency rank #8,380, classified as anadj, pronounced /wɪðˈdɹɔːn/. withdrew is at rank #10,972, tagged as averb, pronounced /wɪðˈdɹuː/.
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 19352, this pair ranks #438,765 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of withdrawn vs withdrew
Shared letters: dhirtw. Private to "withdrawn": an. Private to "withdrew": e.
"withdrawn" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCCVCC · "withdrew" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCCVC