Which to use
“blinks” and “bricks” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,310
- “blinks” frequency rank
- #9,445
- “bricks” frequency rank
- 47755
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | blinks | bricks |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | a herbaceous annual plant of species Montia fontana, in the family Montiaceae, formerly included in the purslane family (Portulacaceae). | plural of brick |
Where the eye mixes blinks and bricks
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses blinks with bricks
A purely visual mix-up. blinks (/blɪŋks/) and bricks (/bɹɪks/) 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 47755, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
blinks is recorded at frequency rank #38,310, classified as anoun, pronounced /blɪŋks/. bricks is at rank #9,445, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bɹɪks/.
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 47755, this pair ranks #199,512 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of blinks vs bricks
Shared letters: biks. Private to "blinks": ln. Private to "bricks": cr.
"blinks" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC · "bricks" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "blinks" for "bricks" ever safe?
Which is more common, "blinks" or "bricks"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "blinks" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bricks" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #199,512 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "blinks" and "bricks" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "blinks vs bunks". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #199,512 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.