dents vs dint, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#35,681
“dents” frequency rank: #40,214
“dint” frequency rank: 75895
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	dents	dint
Definition	plural of dent	Especially in by dint of: force, power.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dents and dint apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

dents

4 ch

dint

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. dents (/dɛnts/) and dint (/dɪnt/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75895, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dents is recorded at frequency rank #35,681, classified as anoun, pronounced /dɛnts/. dint is at rank #40,214, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɪnt/.

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 75895, this pair ranks #31,728 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of dents vs dint

Shared letters: dnt. Private to "dents": es. Private to "dint": i.

"dents" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "dint" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

dents ← ddents · dennts · denst · dentss · dentts · detns · dnets · ednts
dint ← dinnt · dintt · ditn · dnit · idnt

Frequency comparison

dents#35,681

dint#40,214

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dents" and "dint" be used interchangeably?

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

Which is more common, "dents" or "dint"?

"dents" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,681 in our English list, against #40,214 for "dint". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dents vs dint

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 “dents” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable