Which to use
“mints” and “mists” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,295
- “mints” frequency rank
- #35,833
- “mists” frequency rank
- 64128
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mints | mists |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of mint | plural of mist |
Where the eye mixes mints and mists
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: mints vs mists
A purely visual mix-up. mints (/mɪnts/) and mists (/mɪsts/) 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 “mints” becomes s in “mists”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64128, 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/. mists is at rank #35,833, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mɪsts/.
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 64128, this pair ranks #79,343 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of mints vs mists
Shared letters: imst. Private to "mints": n. Private to "mists": -.
"mints" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "mists" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mints" and "mists" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "mints" or "mists"?
After this comparison
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 "mists" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #79,343 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mints" and "mists" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "miser vs mists". 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 #79,343 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.