Which to use
“infect” is a verb and “intact” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,109
- “infect” frequency rank
- #7,351
- “intact” frequency rank
- 25460
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | infect | intact |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To bring (the body or part of it) into contact with a substance that causes illness (a pathogen), so that the pathogen begins to act on the body; (of a pathogen) to come into contact with (a body or body part) and begin to act on it. | Left complete or whole; not touched, defiled, sullied, or otherwise damaged. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set infect and intact apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: infect is /ɪnˈfɛkt/ while intact is /ɪnˈtækt/. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25460, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
infect is recorded at frequency rank #18,109, classified as averb, pronounced /ɪnˈfɛkt/. intact is at rank #7,351, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ɪnˈtækt/.
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 25460, this pair ranks #394,096 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of infect vs intact
Shared letters: cint. Private to "infect": ef. Private to "intact": a.
"infect" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC · "intact" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "infect" and "intact" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "infect" or "intact"?
Remembering infect vs intact
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “infect”; for an adjective, it's “intact”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “infect” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable