Which to use
“lint” and “list” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,346
- “lint” frequency rank
- #531
- “list” frequency rank
- 29877
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lint | list |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Clinging fuzzy fluff that clings to fabric or accumulates in one's pockets or navel etc. | A strip of fabric, especially from the edge of a piece of cloth. |
Where the eye mixes lint and list
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between lint and list
A purely visual mix-up. lint (/lɪnt/) and list (/lɪst/) 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 a single letter - n in “lint” becomes s in “list”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29877, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lint is recorded at frequency rank #29,346, classified as anoun, pronounced /lɪnt/. list is at rank #531, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lɪst/.
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 29877, this pair ranks #359,291 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lint vs list
Shared letters: ilt. Private to "lint": n. Private to "list": s.
"lint" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "list" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lint" and "list" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "lint" or "list" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "lint" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "list" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #359,291 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lint" and "list" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "LIF vs lint". 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 #359,291 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.