inkvsisoConfusable pair

Which to use

“ink” and “iso” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#6,368
“ink” frequency rank
#9,771
“iso” frequency rank
16139
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ink iso
Definition A pigment (or dye)-based fluid used for writing, printing etc. Clipping of isolation.

Where the eye mixes ink and iso

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
ink
3 ch
iso

Look-alike desk: ink vs iso

A purely visual mix-up. ink (/ˈɪŋk/) and iso (/ˈaɪsəʊ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16139, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ink is recorded at frequency rank #6,368, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɪŋk/. iso is at rank #9,771, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈaɪsəʊ/.

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 16139, this pair ranks #459,646 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ink vs iso

Shared letters: i. Private to "ink": kn. Private to "iso": os.

"ink" · 3 letters · shape VCC  ·  "iso" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ink" for "iso" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈɪŋk/ versus /ˈaɪsəʊ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ink" or "iso"?
"ink" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,368 in our English list, against #9,771 for "iso". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ink" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "iso" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #459,646 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ink" and "iso" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "iso vs ith". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #459,646 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