linevslinksWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#306
“line” frequency rank
#1,951
“links” frequency rank
2257
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature line links
Definition A path through two or more points (compare ‘segment’); a continuous mark, including as made by a pen; any path, curved or straight. plural of link

Where the eye mixes line and links

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
line
5 ch
links

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. line (/laɪn/) and links (/lɪŋks/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2257, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

line is recorded at frequency rank #306, classified as anoun, pronounced /laɪn/. links is at rank #1,951, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lɪŋks/.

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 2257, this pair ranks #525,446 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of line vs links

Shared letters: iln. Private to "line": e. Private to "links": ks.

"line" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "links" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lineilne · linne · lline · lnie
  • linksilnks · likns · linkks · linkss · linnks · linsk · llinks · lniks

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "line" and "links" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/laɪn/ versus /lɪŋks/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "line" or "links"?
"line" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #306 in our English list, against #1,951 for "links". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list