Which to use
“quest” is a verb and “quint” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,534
- “quest” frequency rank
- #19,956
- “quint” frequency rank
- 37490
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | quest | quint |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Deuxième personne du pluriel de l’impératif présent de quesen. | Cinquième partie dans quelque somme, dans quelque marché, dans quelque succession. |
Where the eye mixes quest and quint
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: quest vs quint
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: quest is \kveːst\ while quint is \kɛ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37490, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
quest is recorded at frequency rank #17,534, classified as averb, pronounced \kveːst\. quint is at rank #19,956, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɛ̃\.
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 37490, this pair ranks #262,150 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of quest vs quint
Shared letters: qtu. Private to "quest": es. Private to "quint": in.
"quest" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "quint" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "quest" for "quint" ever safe?
Frequency check: "quest" vs "quint" - which ranks higher?
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 "quest" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "quint" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #262,150 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "quest" and "quint" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "quint vs quite". 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 #262,150 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.