InterimvsintimWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Interim is a noun, intim is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Interim” is a noun and “intim” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#40,012
“Interim” frequency rank
#30,133
“intim” frequency rank
70145
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Interim intim
Definition Zwischenzeit vertraut, eng verbunden, innerst, innerlichst

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Interim and intim apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
Interim
5 ch
intim

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Interim and intim form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70145, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Interim is recorded at frequency rank #40,012, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɪntəʁɪm]. intim is at rank #30,133, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɪnˈtiːm].

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 70145, this pair ranks #455,143 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Frequency comparison

Interim#40,012
intim#30,133

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Interim" and "intim" be used interchangeably?
No, "Interim" and "intim" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering Interim vs intim

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Interim”; for an adjective, it's “intim”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Interim” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list