Which to use
“pointe” and “points” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,967
- “pointe” frequency rank
- #591
- “points” frequency rank
- 28558
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pointe | points |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The tip of the toe; a ballet position executed with the tip of the toe. | plural of point |
Where the eye mixes pointe and points
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: pointe vs points
A purely visual mix-up. pointe (/pwæ̃t/) and points (/pɔɪnts/) 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 - e in “pointe” becomes s in “points”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28558, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pointe is recorded at frequency rank #27,967, classified as anoun, pronounced /pwæ̃t/. points is at rank #591, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pɔɪnts/.
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 28558, this pair ranks #370,131 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pointe vs points
Shared letters: inopt. Private to "pointe": e. Private to "points": s.
"pointe" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "points" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pointe" and "points" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "pointe" vs "points" - which ranks higher?
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 "pointe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "points" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #370,131 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pointe" and "points" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "plinth vs pointe". 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 #370,131 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.