Which to use
“mints” and “minute” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,295
- “mints” frequency rank
- #1,124
- “minute” frequency rank
- 29419
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mints | minute |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of mint | A unit of time which is one sixtieth of an hour (sixty seconds). |
Where the eye mixes mints and minute
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses mints with minute
A purely visual mix-up. mints (/mɪnts/) and minute (/ˈmɪnɪt/) 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 29419, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mints is recorded at frequency rank #28,295, classified as anoun, pronounced /mɪnts/. minute is at rank #1,124, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɪnɪt/.
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 29419, this pair ranks #363,168 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mints vs minute
Shared letters: imnt. Private to "mints": s. Private to "minute": eu.
"mints" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "minute" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mints" for "minute" ever safe?
Which is more common, "mints" or "minute"?
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 "mints" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "minute" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #363,168 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mints" and "minute" 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 #363,168 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.