tilevstitheConfusable pair

Which to use

“tile” and “tithe” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#10,948
“tile” frequency rank
#33,884
“tithe” frequency rank
44832
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tile tithe
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 tenth.

Where the eye mixes tile and tithe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
tile
5 ch
tithe

Look-alike desk: tile vs tithe

A purely visual mix-up. tile (/taɪl/) and tithe (/taɪð/) 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 44832, 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/. tithe is at rank #33,884, tagged as anoun, pronounced /taɪð/.

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 44832, this pair ranks #226,906 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tile vs tithe

Shared letters: eit. Private to "tile": l. Private to "tithe": h.

"tile" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "tithe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tileitle · tiel · tille · tlie
  • titheitthe · tihte · titeh · tithhe · titthe · ttihe · ttithe

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tile" for "tithe" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/taɪl/ versus /taɪð/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "tile" or "tithe"?
"tile" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,948 in our English list, against #33,884 for "tithe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "tile" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tithe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #226,906 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tile" and "tithe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tithe vs Toth". 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 #226,906 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list