timesvstintsConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#250
“times” frequency rank
#47,385
“tints” frequency rank
47635
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature times tints
Definition plural of time plural of tint

Where the eye mixes times and tints

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. times (CVCVC) and tints (CVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
times
5 ch
tints

Look-alike desk: times vs tints

A purely visual mix-up. times (/taɪmz/) and tints (/tɪnts/) 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 47635, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

times is recorded at frequency rank #250, classified as anoun, pronounced /taɪmz/. tints is at rank #47,385, tagged as anoun, pronounced /tɪnts/.

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 47635, this pair ranks #200,599 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of times vs tints

Shared letters: ist. Private to "times": em. Private to "tints": n.

"times" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "tints" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • times ← itmes · tiems · timess · timmes · timse · tmies · ttimes
  • tints ← itnts · tinnts · tinst · tintss · tintts · titns · tnits · ttints

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "times" and "tints" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/taɪmz/ versus /tɪnts/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "times" or "tints"?
"times" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #250 in our English list, against #47,385 for "tints". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "times" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tints" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #200,599 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "times" and "tints" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tanto vs tints". 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 #200,599 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