Which to use
“ill” is an adjective and “ink” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,946
- “ill” frequency rank
- #6,368
- “ink” frequency rank
- 8314
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ill | ink |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Evil; wicked (of people). | A pigment (or dye)-based fluid used for writing, printing etc. |
Where the eye mixes ill and ink
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between ill and ink
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ill is /ɪl/ while ink is /ˈɪŋk/. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8314, 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/. ink is at rank #6,368, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɪŋk/.
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 8314, this pair ranks #503,125 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ill vs ink
Shared letters: i. Private to "ill": l. Private to "ink": kn.
"ill" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "ink" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ill" and "ink" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "ill" vs "ink" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "ill" and "ink" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ill" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ink" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #503,125 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ill" and "ink" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ink vs ith". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #503,125 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.