Which to use
“thym” is a noun and “tint” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #32,217
- “thym” frequency rank
- #26,204
- “tint” frequency rank
- 58421
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | thym | tint |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genre de plantes de la famille des Lamiacées dont l’espèce la plus connue est le Thymus vulgaris, plante aromatique et médicinale, qui est utilisée en cuisine et pour la préparation d’infusions et de décoctions. Sauvage et très répandu dans les garrigues des rives de la méditerranée, il est aussi, pour ses vertus, cultivé dans les jardins. | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de tenir. |
Same sound, different letters: thym vs tint
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 1 letter. thym (CCVC) and tint (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Same sound, different spelling - thym / tint
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: thym and tint carry the same recorded pronunciation, \tɛ̃\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58421, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
thym is recorded at frequency rank #32,217, classified as anoun, pronounced \tɛ̃\. tint is at rank #26,204, tagged as averb, pronounced \tɛ̃\.
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 58421, this pair ranks #109,173 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of thym vs tint
Shared letters: t. Private to "thym": hmy. Private to "tint": in.
"thym" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "tint" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "thym" and "tint" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "thym" or "tint"?
After this comparison
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "thym" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tint" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #109,173 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "thym" and "tint" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "thug vs thym". 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 #109,173 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.