Which to use
“lint” and “loin” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,346
- “lint” frequency rank
- #39,400
- “loin” frequency rank
- 68746
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lint | loin |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Clinging fuzzy fluff that clings to fabric or accumulates in one's pockets or navel etc. | The part of the body (of humans and quadrupeds) at each side of the backbone, between the ribs and hips. |
Where the eye mixes lint and loin
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between lint and loin
A purely visual mix-up. lint (/lɪnt/) and loin (/lɔɪn/) 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 68746, 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/. loin is at rank #39,400, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lɔɪn/.
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 68746, this pair ranks #57,503 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lint vs loin
Shared letters: iln. Private to "lint": t. Private to "loin": o.
"lint" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "loin" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lint" and "loin" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "lint" or "loin" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lint" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "loin" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #57,503 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lint" and "loin" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "loin vs loring". 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 #57,503 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.