Which to use
“spirit” and “sprint” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,160
- “spirit” frequency rank
- #10,588
- “sprint” frequency rank
- 29748
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spirit | sprint |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Élan (entrain). | Course sur une courte distance où l’athlète va le plus vite possible. |
Where the eye mixes spirit and sprint
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses spirit with sprint
A purely visual mix-up. spirit (\ˈspɪɹ.ɪt\) and sprint (\spʁint\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29748, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
spirit is recorded at frequency rank #19,160, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈspɪɹ.ɪt\. sprint is at rank #10,588, tagged as anoun, pronounced \spʁint\.
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 29748, this pair ranks #314,744 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of spirit vs sprint
Shared letters: iprst. Private to "spirit": -. Private to "sprint": n.
"spirit" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "sprint" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "spirit" for "sprint" ever safe?
Which is more common, "spirit" or "sprint"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "spirit" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sprint" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #314,744 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spirit" and "sprint" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sprint vs sprints". 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 #314,744 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.