tiltvstimConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#34,331
“tilt” frequency rank
#5,406
“tim” frequency rank
39737
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tilt tim
Definition Mécanisme destiné à interrompre une partie de flipper quand le joueur triche en soulevant l'appareil de façon à en modifier l'inclinaison. Mèche.

Where the eye mixes tilt and tim

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
tilt
3 ch
tim

Why the eye confuses tilt with tim

A purely visual mix-up. tilt (\tilt\) and tim (\tim˦\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39737, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tilt is recorded at frequency rank #34,331, classified as anoun, pronounced \tilt\. tim is at rank #5,406, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tim˦\.

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 39737, this pair ranks #245,759 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tilt vs tim

Shared letters: it. Private to "tilt": l. Private to "tim": m.

"tilt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "tim" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tiltitlt · tillt · tiltt · titl · tlit · ttilt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tilt" and "tim" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\tilt\ versus \tim˦\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "tilt" vs "tim" - which ranks higher?
"tim" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,406 in our French list, against #34,331 for "tilt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "tilt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tim" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #245,759 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tilt" and "tim" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tif vs tilt". 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 #245,759 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