Which to use
“spilt” and “spiny” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,598
- “spilt” frequency rank
- #45,095
- “spiny” frequency rank
- 77693
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spilt | spiny |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | That has been spilled. | Covered in spines or thorns. |
Where the eye mixes spilt and spiny
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. spilt (CCVCC) and spiny (CCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: spilt vs spiny
A purely visual mix-up. spilt (/spɪlt/) and spiny (/ˈspaɪni/) 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 77693, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
spilt is recorded at frequency rank #32,598, classified as anadj, pronounced /spɪlt/. spiny is at rank #45,095, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈspaɪni/.
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 77693, this pair ranks #26,567 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of spilt vs spiny
Shared letters: ips. Private to "spilt": lt. Private to "spiny": ny.
"spilt" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "spiny" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "spilt" and "spiny" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "spilt" or "spiny"?
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 "spilt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spiny" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #26,567 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spilt" and "spiny" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "spiny vs spongy". 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 #26,567 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.