Which to use
“intact” is an adjective and “intent” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,351
- “intact” frequency rank
- #4,457
- “intent” frequency rank
- 11808
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | intact | intent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Left complete or whole; not touched, defiled, sullied, or otherwise damaged. | Something that is intended. |
Where the eye mixes intact and intent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses intact with intent
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: intact is /ɪnˈtækt/ while intent is /ɪnˈtɛnt/. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11808, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
intact is recorded at frequency rank #7,351, classified as anadj, pronounced /ɪnˈtækt/. 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 11808, this pair ranks #485,024 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of intact vs intent
Shared letters: int. Private to "intact": ac. Private to "intent": e.
"intact" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC · "intent" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "intact" and "intent" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "intact" vs "intent" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "intact" and "intent" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "intact" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "intent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #485,024 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "intact" and "intent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "intent vs invert". 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 #485,024 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.