Which to use
“ill” is an adjective and “inc” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,946
- “ill” frequency rank
- #1,760
- “inc” frequency rank
- 3706
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ill | inc |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Evil; wicked (of people). | Abbreviation of increase. |
Letter map: ill vs inc
Shared letters muted; letters that set ill and inc apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.
Part-of-speech tell for ill / inc
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: ill is anadjective and incaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3706, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ill is recorded at frequency rank #1,946, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɪl/. inc is at rank #1,760, tagged as averb.
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 3706, this pair ranks #521,247 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ill vs inc
Shared letters: i. Private to "ill": l. Private to "inc": cn.
"ill" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "inc" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ill" and "inc" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "ill" or "inc" show up more?
What to do next
You've compared "ill" and "inc". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "ill" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "inc" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #521,247 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ill" and "inc" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ilan vs ill". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #521,247 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.