Which to use
“infinite” is an adjective and “infinitive” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,507
- “infinite” frequency rank
- #48,820
- “infinitive” frequency rank
- 54327
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | infinite | infinitive |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Indefinably large, countlessly great; immense. | The infinitive mood or mode (a grammatical mood). |
Where the eye mixes infinite and infinitive
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. infinite runs 8 letters (VCCVCVCV) against infinitive's 10 (VCCVCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses infinite with infinitive
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: infinite is /ˈɪnfᵻnɪt/ while infinitive is /ɪnˈfɪnɪtɪv/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54327, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
infinite is recorded at frequency rank #5,507, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈɪnfᵻnɪt/. infinitive is at rank #48,820, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɪnˈfɪnɪtɪv/.
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 54327, this pair ranks #141,913 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of infinite vs infinitive
Shared letters: efint. Private to "infinite": -. Private to "infinitive": v.
"infinite" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV · "infinitive" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- infinite ← ifninite · inffinite · infiinte · infiniet · infinitte · infinnite · infintie · infniite
- infinitive ← ifninitive · inffinitive · infiintive · infiniitve · infinitiev · infinitivve · infinittive · infinitvie
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "infinite" and "infinitive" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "infinite" or "infinitive" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "infinite" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "infinitive" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #141,913 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "infinite" and "infinitive" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "indefinite vs infinite". 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 #141,913 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.