Which to use
“tile” and “tine” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,948
- “tile” frequency rank
- #44,530
- “tine” frequency rank
- 55478
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tile | tine |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | A spike or point on an implement or tool, especially a prong of a fork or a tooth of a comb. |
Where the eye mixes tile and tine
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: tile vs tine
A purely visual mix-up. tile (/taɪl/) and tine (/taɪn/) 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 - l in “tile” becomes n in “tine”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55478, 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/. tine is at rank #44,530, tagged as anoun, pronounced /taɪn/.
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 55478, this pair ranks #133,335 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tile vs tine
Shared letters: eit. Private to "tile": l. Private to "tine": n.
"tile" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "tine" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tile" and "tine" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "tile" vs "tine" - 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 "tile" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tine" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #133,335 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tile" and "tine" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tine vs tobe". 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 #133,335 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.