When looking to describe something, such as loyalty, a grievance, etc, that is firmly implanted or established, it is tempting to say that it is deep-seeded. After all, a seed is buried deep beneath the dirt.
Which of the following would be correct?
A) Shelby’s hatred of mushrooms is deep-seated.
B) Shelby’s hatred of mushrooms is deep-seeded.
If you chose A, you chose the correct one. But why? What is the difference? Why is it deep-seated and not deep-seeded? How can one describe something that is firmly planted or established with seat instead of seed? A seat is never buried, is it?
According to Merriam-Webster, deep-seated is an adjective used to describe something that is situated far below the surface or is firmly established. According to dictionary.com, if something is deep-seated, it is firmly planted or established.
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Apparently, the adjective deep-seated comes to us from horseback riding. Yes, that surprised me too. It refers to the position of the rider on the horse and means deep in the seat.
Deep-seeded cannot be found in any dictionary, but that hasn’t stopped people from using it. I understand the confusion, but it really isn’t hard to understand the difference. In many of the manuscripts authors send me to edit, deep-seeded has been used instead of deep-seated. I correct it and explain the difference to them. But unless you’re a writer, chances are you don’t have an editor.
Many journalists also use the incorrect word, so don’t feel bad if you’ve misused it. Below are two examples of this, one from Fox News and one from HuffPost.
From HuffPost: And when I say resent, I mean resent with a deep-seeded, unhealthy anger that I can’t really explain.
From Fox News: Iesa Galloway, Houston Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said the questionnaire was “rooted in deep-seeded ignorance of the religion of Islam and the Muslim people.”
How can you remember the correct spelling is deep-seated? Think about someone watching an Alfred Hitchcock movie. Rope would be a good one. Rachel is so engrossed in this thriller that she cannot move. Her body has sunk so deeply into the couch she is sitting in that she would have to climb off it. She is deep-seated in the couch as well as in seeing if the murderer will get away the murder or if the body in the middle of the room will be discovered.
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