Which to use
“ink” and “ire” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,673
- “ink” frequency rank
- #23,590
- “ire” frequency rank
- 69263
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ink | ire |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Encre. | Colère. |
Where the eye mixes ink and ire
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: ink vs ire
A purely visual mix-up. ink (\ɪŋk\) and ire (\iʁ\) 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 69263, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ink is recorded at frequency rank #45,673, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɪŋk\. ire is at rank #23,590, tagged as anoun, pronounced \iʁ\.
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 69263, this pair ranks #55,832 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ink vs ire
Shared letters: i. Private to "ink": kn. Private to "ire": er.
"ink" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "ire" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ink" for "ire" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ink" vs "ire" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "ink" and "ire" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ink" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ire" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #55,832 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ink" and "ire" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ink vs isi". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #55,832 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.