Which to use
“hinder” and “hinted” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,382
- “hinder” frequency rank
- #17,157
- “hinted” frequency rank
- 34539
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hinder | hinted |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To make difficult to accomplish; to act as an obstacle; to frustrate. | simple past and past participle of hint |
Where the eye mixes hinder and hinted
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: hinder vs hinted
A purely visual mix-up. hinder (/ˈhɪndə/) and hinted (/ˈhɪntɪd/) 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 34539, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hinder is recorded at frequency rank #17,382, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈhɪndə/. hinted is at rank #17,157, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈhɪntɪd/.
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 34539, this pair ranks #319,944 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hinder vs hinted
Shared letters: dehin. Private to "hinder": r. Private to "hinted": t.
"hinder" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "hinted" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "hinder" and "hinted" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "hinder" or "hinted"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "hinder" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hinted" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #319,944 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hinder" and "hinted" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hinder vs Hodder". 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 #319,944 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.