Which to use
“hinges” and “hints” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,579
- “hinges” frequency rank
- #8,944
- “hints” frequency rank
- 27523
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hinges | hints |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of hinge | plural of hint |
Where the eye mixes hinges and hints
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses hinges with hints
A purely visual mix-up. hinges (/ˈhɪnd͡ʒəz/) and hints (/hɪnts/) 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 27523, 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/. hints is at rank #8,944, tagged as anoun, pronounced /hɪnts/.
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 27523, this pair ranks #378,255 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hinges vs hints
Shared letters: hins. Private to "hinges": eg. Private to "hints": t.
"hinges" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "hints" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "hinges" and "hints" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "hinges" or "hints"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "hinges" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hints" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #378,255 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hinges" and "hints" 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 #378,255 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.