indictvsindieWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: indict is a verb, indie is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“indict” is a verb and “indie” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#34,936
“indict” frequency rank
#7,140
“indie” frequency rank
42076
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature indict indie
Definition To accuse of wrongdoing; charge. Independent; from outside the mainstream.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set indict and indie apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
indict
5 ch
indie

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: indict is /ɪnˈdaɪt/ while indie is /ˈɪndi/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42076, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

indict is recorded at frequency rank #34,936, classified as averb, pronounced /ɪnˈdaɪt/. indie is at rank #7,140, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈɪndi/.

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 42076, this pair ranks #252,517 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of indict vs indie

Shared letters: din. Private to "indict": ct. Private to "indie": e.

"indict" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC  ·  "indie" · 5 letters · shape VCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • indictidnict · indcit · inddict · indicct · indictt · inditc · inidct · inndict
  • indieidnie · inddie · indei · inide · inndie · nidie

Frequency comparison

indict#34,936
indie#7,140

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "indict" and "indie" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "indict" is a verb and "indie" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "indict" or "indie"?
"indie" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,140 in our English list, against #34,936 for "indict". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering indict vs indie

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “indict”; for an adjective, it's “indie”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “indict” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list