Which to use
“sixth” is an adjective and “smith” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,785
- “sixth” frequency rank
- #1,376
- “smith” frequency rank
- 5161
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sixth | smith |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The ordinal form of the number six. | A craftsperson who works metal into desired forms using a hammer and other tools, sometimes heating the metal to make it more workable, especially a blacksmith. |
Where the eye mixes sixth and smith
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses sixth with smith
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sixth is /sɪksθ/ while smith is /smɪθ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5161, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sixth is recorded at frequency rank #3,785, classified as anadj, pronounced /sɪksθ/. smith is at rank #1,376, tagged as anoun, pronounced /smɪθ/.
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 5161, this pair ranks #516,366 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sixth vs smith
Shared letters: hist. Private to "sixth": x. Private to "smith": m.
"sixth" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "smith" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "sixth" and "smith" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "sixth" or "smith"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "sixth" and "smith" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "sixth" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "smith" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #516,366 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sixth" and "smith" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sich vs sixth". 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 #516,366 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.