infimevsintimeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“infime” and “intime” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#17,164
“infime” frequency rank
#5,469
“intime” frequency rank
22633
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature infime intime
Definition Qui est placé le plus bas. Profondément intérieur, en parlant surtout de ce qui fait l’essence réelle d’une chose.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set infime and intime apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
infime
6 ch
intime

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. infime (\ɛ̃.fim\) and intime (\ɛ̃.tim\) 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 - f in “infime” becomes t in “intime”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22633, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

infime is recorded at frequency rank #17,164, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.fim\. intime is at rank #5,469, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.tim\.

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 22633, this pair ranks #356,932 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of infime vs intime

Shared letters: eimn. Private to "infime": f. Private to "intime": t.

"infime" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "intime" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • infimeifnime · inffime · infiem · infimme · infmie · inifme · innfime · nifime
  • intimeinitme · inntime · intiem · intimme · intmie · inttime · itnime · nitime

Frequency comparison

infime#17,164
intime#5,469

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "infime" and "intime" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɛ̃.fim\ versus \ɛ̃.tim\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "infime" or "intime"?
"intime" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,469 in our French list, against #17,164 for "infime". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering infime vs intime

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “infime” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list