Which to use
“lim” is a noun and “lime” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,164
- “lim” frequency rank
- #40,652
- “lime” frequency rank
- 67816
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lim | lime |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | membro | verde-claro |
Where the eye mixes lim and lime
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. lim runs 3 letters (CVC) against lime's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between lim and lime
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lim is /lim/ while lime is /laɪm/, ouvir^(fonte ?). Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “lim” sits inside “lime”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67816, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lim is recorded at frequency rank #27,164, classified as anoun, pronounced /lim/. lime is at rank #40,652, tagged as anadj, pronounced /laɪm/, ouvir^(fonte ?).
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 67816, this pair ranks #4,483 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lim vs lime
Shared letters: ilm. Private to "lim": -. Private to "lime": e.
"lim" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "lime" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- lime ← ilme · liem · limme · llime · lmie
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lim" and "lime" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "lim" or "lime"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lim" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lime" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #4,483 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lim" and "lime" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lied vs lime". 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 #4,483 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.