Which to use
“hinges” is a noun and “hinted” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,579
- “hinges” frequency rank
- #17,157
- “hinted” frequency rank
- 35736
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hinges | hinted |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of hinge | simple past and past participle of hint |
Where the eye mixes hinges and hinted
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses hinges with hinted
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hinges is /ˈhɪnd͡ʒəz/ while hinted is /ˈhɪntɪd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35736, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hinges is recorded at frequency rank #18,579, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈhɪnd͡ʒəz/. 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 35736, this pair ranks #309,357 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hinges vs hinted
Shared letters: ehin. Private to "hinges": gs. Private to "hinted": dt.
"hinges" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "hinted" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hinges" for "hinted" ever safe?
Frequency check: "hinges" vs "hinted" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "hinges" and "hinted" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "hinges" 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 #309,357 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hinges" and "hinted" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hing vs hinges". 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 #309,357 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.