Which to use
“splint” is a noun and “spoilt” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #43,933
- “splint” frequency rank
- #25,591
- “spoilt” frequency rank
- 69524
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | splint | spoilt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A narrow strip of wood split or peeled from a larger piece. | Having lost its original value |
Where the eye mixes splint and spoilt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. splint (CCCVCC) and spoilt (CCVVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between splint and spoilt
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: splint is /splɪnt/ while spoilt is /spɔɪlt/. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69524, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
splint is recorded at frequency rank #43,933, classified as anoun, pronounced /splɪnt/. spoilt is at rank #25,591, tagged as anadj, pronounced /spɔɪlt/.
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 69524, this pair ranks #54,200 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of splint vs spoilt
Shared letters: ilpst. Private to "splint": n. Private to "spoilt": o.
"splint" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC · "spoilt" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "splint" and "spoilt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "splint" vs "spoilt" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "splint" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spoilt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #54,200 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "splint" and "spoilt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "splint vs splints". 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 #54,200 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.