linnvslynxWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#46,866
“linn” frequency rank
#23,925
“lynx” frequency rank
70791
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature linn lynx
Definition Ville. Une des espèces de félins sauvages ressemblant à un gros chat, dont la face est ornée de favoris et d’oreilles triangulaires surmontées d’une touffe de poil, et le corps doté d’une courte queue et de longues pattes.

Where the eye mixes linn and lynx

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. linn and lynx follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

4 ch
linn
4 ch
lynx

Visual trap between linn and lynx

A purely visual mix-up. linn (\linʲˑ\) and lynx (\lɛ̃ks\) 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 70791, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

linn is recorded at frequency rank #46,866, classified as anoun, pronounced \linʲˑ\. lynx is at rank #23,925, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lɛ̃ks\.

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 70791, this pair ranks #50,000 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of linn vs lynx

Shared letters: ln. Private to "linn": i. Private to "lynx": xy.

"linn" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "lynx" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • linn ← ilnn · llinn · lnin
  • lynx ← llynx · lnyx · lynnx · lynxx · lyxn · lyynx · ylnx

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "linn" and "lynx" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\linʲˑ\ versus \lɛ̃ks\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "linn" or "lynx"?
"lynx" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,925 in our French list, against #46,866 for "linn". 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 "linn" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lynx" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #50,000 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "linn" and "lynx" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "linn vs lung". 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 #50,000 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list