Which to use
“non” is an adverb and “nylon” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #515
- “non” frequency rank
- #16,762
- “nylon” frequency rank
- 17277
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | non | nylon |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Obsolete form of none. | Originally, the DuPont company trade name for polyamide, a copolymer whose molecules consist of alternating diamine and dicarboxylic acid monomers bonded together; now generically used for this type of polymer. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set non and nylon apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
non and nylon form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17277, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
non is recorded at frequency rank #515, classified as anadv, pronounced /nɑn/. nylon is at rank #16,762, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈnaɪlɒn/.
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 17277, this pair ranks #452,483 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "non" and "nylon" be used interchangeably?
Remembering non vs nylon
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “non”; for a noun, it's “nylon”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “non” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable