Which to use
“insulin” and “insults” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,485
- “insulin” frequency rank
- #13,176
- “insults” frequency rank
- 22661
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | insulin | insults |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A polypeptide hormone that regulates carbohydrate metabolism (in various animals including humans). | plural of insult |
Where the eye mixes insulin and insults
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. insulin (VCCVCVC) and insults (VCCVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between insulin and insults
A purely visual mix-up. insulin (/ˈɪnsjʊlin/) and insults (/ˈɪnsʌlts/) 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 22661, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
insulin is recorded at frequency rank #9,485, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɪnsjʊlin/. insults is at rank #13,176, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɪnsʌlts/.
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 22661, this pair ranks #414,936 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of insulin vs insults
Shared letters: ilnsu. Private to "insulin": -. Private to "insults": t.
"insulin" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "insults" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "insulin" and "insults" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "insulin" or "insults"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "insulin" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "insults" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #414,936 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "insulin" and "insults" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "insulate vs insults". 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 #414,936 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.