Which to use
“icy” and “ith” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,141
- “icy” frequency rank
- #49,435
- “ith” frequency rank
- 63576
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | icy | ith |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pertaining to, resembling, or abounding in ice; cold; frosty. | Occurring at position i in a sequence. |
Where the eye mixes icy and ith
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. icy (VCV) and ith (VCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: icy vs ith
A purely visual mix-up. icy (/ˈaɪsi/) and ith (/aɪθ/) 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 63576, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
icy is recorded at frequency rank #14,141, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈaɪsi/. ith is at rank #49,435, tagged as anadj, pronounced /aɪθ/.
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 63576, this pair ranks #82,212 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of icy vs ith
Shared letters: i. Private to "icy": cy. Private to "ith": ht.
"icy" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "ith" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "icy" and "ith" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "icy" or "ith"?
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 "icy" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ith" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #82,212 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "icy" and "ith" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ISR vs ith". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #82,212 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.