linksvsloinsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,951
“links” frequency rank
#41,233
“loins” frequency rank
43184
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature links loins
Definition plural of link plural of loin

Where the eye mixes links and loins

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
links
5 ch
loins

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. links (/lɪŋks/) and loins (/lɔɪnz/) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43184, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

links is recorded at frequency rank #1,951, classified as anoun, pronounced /lɪŋks/. loins is at rank #41,233, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lɔɪnz/.

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 43184, this pair ranks #242,450 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of links vs loins

Shared letters: ilns. Private to "links": k. Private to "loins": o.

"links" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "loins" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • linksilnks · likns · linkks · linkss · linnks · linsk · llinks · lniks
  • loinslions · lloins · loinns · loinss · loisn · lonis · olins

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "links" and "loins" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/lɪŋks/ versus /lɔɪnz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "links" or "loins"?
"links" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,951 in our English list, against #41,233 for "loins". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list