nbspvsnisConfusable pair

Which to use

“nbsp” and “nis” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#25,856
“nbsp” frequency rank
#33,760
“nis” frequency rank
59616
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nbsp nis
Definition Initialism of non-breaking space. A nix; a hobgoblin, especially one that resides in a farm house.

Letter map: nbsp vs nis

Shared letters muted; letters that set nbsp and nis apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. nbsp runs 4 letters (CCCC) against nis's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
nbsp
3 ch
nis

Corpus notes: nbsp and nis

nbsp and nis are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59616, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nbsp is recorded at frequency rank #25,856, classified as anoun. nis is at rank #33,760, tagged as anoun.

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 59616, this pair ranks #105,102 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of nbsp vs nis

Shared letters: ns. Private to "nbsp": bp. Private to "nis": i.

"nbsp" · 4 letters · shape CCCC  ·  "nis" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nbsp ← bnsp · nbbsp · nbps · nbspp · nbssp · nnbsp · nsbp

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nbsp" and "nis" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "nbsp" vs "nis" - which ranks higher?
"nbsp" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,856 in our English list, against #33,760 for "nis". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

You've compared "nbsp" and "nis". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "nbsp" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #105,102 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nbsp" and "nis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nis vs NPL". 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 #105,102 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list