Which to use
“tilt” and “told” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,988
- “tilt” frequency rank
- #268
- “told” frequency rank
- 12256
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tilt | told |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To slope or incline (something); to slant. | simple past and past participle of tell |
Where the eye mixes tilt and told
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses tilt with told
A purely visual mix-up. tilt (/tɪlt/) and told (/təʊld/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12256, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tilt is recorded at frequency rank #11,988, classified as averb, pronounced /tɪlt/. told is at rank #268, tagged as averb, pronounced /təʊld/.
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 12256, this pair ranks #482,588 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of tilt vs told
Shared letters: lt. Private to "tilt": i. Private to "told": do.
"tilt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "told" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tilt" and "told" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "tilt" or "told"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "tilt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "told" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #482,588 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tilt" and "told" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tilt vs tuft". 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 #482,588 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.