worked vs worsen, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“worked” and “worsen” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#725
“worked” frequency rank: #27,032
“worsen” frequency rank: 27757
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	worked	worsen
Definition	simple past and past participle of work	To make worse; to impair.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set worked and worsen apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

worked

6 ch

worsen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. worked (/wɜːkt/) and worsen (/ˈwɜːsn̩/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27757, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

worked is recorded at frequency rank #725, classified as averb, pronounced /wɜːkt/. worsen is at rank #27,032, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈwɜːsn̩/.

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 27757, this pair ranks #376,344 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of worked vs worsen

Shared letters: eorw. Private to "worked": dk. Private to "worsen": ns.

"worked" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "worsen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

worked ← owrked · wokred · worekd · workde · workedd · workked · worrked · wroked
worsen ← owrsen · woresn · worrsen · worsenn · worsne · worssen · wosren · wrosen

Frequency comparison

worked#725

worsen#27,032

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "worked" and "worsen" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/wɜːkt/ versus /ˈwɜːsn̩/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "worked" or "worsen"?

"worked" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #725 in our English list, against #27,032 for "worsen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering worked vs worsen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “worked” entry
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