Which to use
“mints” and “monks” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,295
- “mints” frequency rank
- #10,889
- “monks” frequency rank
- 39184
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mints | monks |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of mint | plural of monk |
Where the eye mixes mints and monks
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. mints and monks follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: mints vs monks
A purely visual mix-up. mints (/mɪnts/) and monks (/mʌŋks/) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39184, 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/. monks is at rank #10,889, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mʌŋks/.
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 39184, this pair ranks #279,074 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mints vs monks
Shared letters: mns. Private to "mints": it. Private to "monks": ko.
"mints" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "monks" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mints" and "monks" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "mints" or "monks"?
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 "mints" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "monks" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #279,074 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mints" and "monks" 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 #279,074 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.