indexvsinkedConfusable pair

Quick tell: index is a noun, inked is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“index” is a noun and “inked” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,628
“index” frequency rank
#26,130
“inked” frequency rank
28758
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature index inked
Definition An alphabetical listing of items and their location. Having a tattoo or tattoos.

Letter map: index vs inked

Shared letters muted; letters that set index and inked apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. index and inked follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
index
5 ch
inked

Grammar separator: index vs inked

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: index is anoun and inkedanadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28758, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

index is recorded at frequency rank #2,628, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɪndɛks/. inked is at rank #26,130, tagged as anadj.

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 28758, this pair ranks #368,556 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of index vs inked

Shared letters: dein. Private to "index": x. Private to "inked": k.

"index" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "inked" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • index ← idnex · inddex · indexx · indxe · inedx · inndex · nidex
  • inked ← ikned · inekd · inkde · inkedd · inkked · innked · niked

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "index" and "inked" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "index" is a noun and "inked" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "index" or "inked"?
"index" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,628 in our English list, against #26,130 for "inked". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pair "index" vs "inked" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "index" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "inked" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #368,556 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "index" and "inked" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "inked vs inky". 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 #368,556 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list