Burned and burnt both work as past-tense verbs and participial adjectives. Both are used throughout the English-speaking world, but usage conventions vary. American and Canadian writers use burned more often, and they use burnt mainly in adjectival phrases such as burnt out and burnt orange. Outside North America, the two words are used interchangeably, and neither is significantly more common than the other.
Examples
Outside North America, writers use burned and burnt interchangeably—for example:
The book was ceremonially burnt by O’Brien’s local priest with her mother’s full agreement. [The Telegraph]
They were found burned at Free Derry corner in the Bogside . . . [BBC News]
England’s poor use of the controversial decision review system burnt them badly … [Sydney Morning Herald]
Baddeley burned the rim on a short putt that would have sealed the win . . . [Irish Times]
Writers in American English usually use burned-–for example:
Deputies said a woman burned a man with a hot bowl of soup. [Kiro TV (article now offline)]
It’s Larry, in his more familiar severely burned visage. [Wall Street Journal]
Colorado Springs firefighters have a brush fire that has burned about 50 acres on the southern tip of Fort Carson overnight about 75 percent contained. [Colorado Springs Gazette]
And in American English, burnt is almost exclusively used as an adjective, often in the phrasal adjective burnt-out and in other adjectival phrases—for example:
The kitchen cabinets are painted burnt orange in honor of the Texas Longhorns . . . [Wall Street Journal]
A police car stands in front of the burnt-out remains of the apartment . . . [CNN]
Ngrams
The below Ngram charts the use of burned and burnt in American-English books published from 1800 to 2000. It shows that burned has been preferred in the U.S. for well over a century.
And this Ngram charts the use of the words in British English during the same period:
Of course, this doesn’t indicate how the words are used, but it’s interesting nonetheless. Burned appears to have recently gained the edge.
