Which to use
“tile” and “tilly” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,948
- “tile” frequency rank
- #31,380
- “tilly” frequency rank
- 42328
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tile | tilly |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A regularly-shaped slab of clay or other material, affixed to cover or decorate a surface, as in a roof-tile, glazed tile, stove tile, carpet tile, etc. | An extra product given to a customer at no additional charge; a lagniappe. |
Where the eye mixes tile and tilly
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between tile and tilly
A purely visual mix-up. tile (/taɪl/) and tilly (/ˈtɪli/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42328, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tile is recorded at frequency rank #10,948, classified as anoun, pronounced /taɪl/. tilly is at rank #31,380, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈtɪli/.
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 42328, this pair ranks #250,241 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tile vs tilly
Shared letters: ilt. Private to "tile": e. Private to "tilly": y.
"tile" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "tilly" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tile" for "tilly" ever safe?
Frequency check: "tile" vs "tilly" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "tile" and "tilly" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "tile" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tilly" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #250,241 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tile" and "tilly" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tilly vs tulle". 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 #250,241 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.