Which to use
“ilk” is an adjective and “IME” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #32,443
- “ilk” frequency rank
- #47,112
- “IME” frequency rank
- 79555
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ilk | IME |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Very; same. | Initialism of input method editor. |
Letter map: ilk vs IME
Shared letters muted; letters that set ilk and IME apart highlighted. Shared run: 1. ilk (VCC) and IME (VCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Part-of-speech tell for ilk / IME
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: ilk is anadjective and IMEanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79555, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ilk is recorded at frequency rank #32,443, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɪlk/. IME is at rank #47,112, tagged as anoun.
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 79555, this pair ranks #21,807 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ilk vs IME
Shared letters: i. Private to "ilk": kl. Private to "IME": em.
"ilk" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "IME" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ilk" and "IME" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "ilk" or "IME" show up more?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "ilk" and "IME".
- Full dictionary entry for "ilk" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "IME" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #21,807 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ilk" and "IME" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "IME vs ith". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #21,807 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.