Which to use
“splinter” and “splitter” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,231
- “splinter” frequency rank
- #33,856
- “splitter” frequency rank
- 54087
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | splinter | splitter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A long, sharp fragment of material, often wood. | A person or a thing that splits. |
Where the eye mixes splinter and splitter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses splinter with splitter
A purely visual mix-up. splinter (/ˈsplɪn.tə(ɹ)/) and splitter (/ˈsplɪtə(ɹ)/) 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 - n in “splinter” becomes t in “splitter”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54087, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
splinter is recorded at frequency rank #20,231, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈsplɪn.tə(ɹ)/. splitter is at rank #33,856, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈsplɪtə(ɹ)/.
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 54087, this pair ranks #143,811 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of splinter vs splitter
Shared letters: eilprst. Private to "splinter": n. Private to "splitter": -.
"splinter" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC · "splitter" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "splinter" for "splitter" ever safe?
Frequency check: "splinter" vs "splitter" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "splinter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "splitter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #143,811 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "splinter" and "splitter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "splatter vs splitter". 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 #143,811 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.