Which to use
“lint” and “lot” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,346
- “lint” frequency rank
- #219
- “lot” frequency rank
- 29565
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lint | lot |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Clinging fuzzy fluff that clings to fabric or accumulates in one's pockets or navel etc. | A large quantity or number; a great deal. |
Where the eye mixes lint and lot
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses lint with lot
A purely visual mix-up. lint (/lɪnt/) and lot (/lɒt/) 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 29565, 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/. lot is at rank #219, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lɒt/.
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 29565, this pair ranks #361,927 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lint vs lot
Shared letters: lt. Private to "lint": in. Private to "lot": o.
"lint" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "lot" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- lint ← ilnt · linnt · lintt · litn · llint · lnit
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lint" and "lot" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "lint" or "lot" show up more?
Useful next steps
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 "lot" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #361,927 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lint" and "lot" 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 #361,927 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.