Which to use
“infect” is a verb and “intent” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,109
- “infect” frequency rank
- #4,457
- “intent” frequency rank
- 22566
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | infect | intent |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Something that is intended. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set infect and intent apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
infect and intent form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22566, 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/. intent is at rank #4,457, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɪnˈtɛnt/.
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 22566, this pair ranks #415,648 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "infect" and "intent" be used interchangeably?
Remembering infect vs intent
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “infect”; for a noun, it's “intent”.
- 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