Which to use
“mined” is an adjective and “mints” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,971
- “mined” frequency rank
- #28,295
- “mints” frequency rank
- 45266
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mined | mints |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | That has been mined (in various senses). | plural of mint |
Where the eye mixes mined and mints
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between mined and mints
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mined is /maɪnd/ while mints is /mɪnts/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45266, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mined is recorded at frequency rank #16,971, classified as anadj, pronounced /maɪnd/. mints is at rank #28,295, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mɪnts/.
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 45266, this pair ranks #222,852 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mined vs mints
Shared letters: imn. Private to "mined": de. Private to "mints": st.
"mined" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "mints" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mined" for "mints" ever safe?
Frequency check: "mined" vs "mints" - which ranks higher?
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 "mined" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mints" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #222,852 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mined" and "mints" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Minot vs mints". 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 #222,852 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.