Which to use
“feed” is a verb and “fred” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,564
- “feed” frequency rank
- #7,047
- “fred” frequency rank
- 21611
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | feed | fred |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | jemandem oder etwas Nahrung geben | kalt (von der Temperatur her) |
Where the eye mixes feed and fred
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between feed and fred
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: feed is [fiːd] while fred is [fɾɛt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “feed” becomes r in “fred”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21611, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
feed is recorded at frequency rank #14,564, classified as averb, pronounced [fiːd]. fred is at rank #7,047, tagged as anadj, pronounced [fɾɛt].
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 21611, this pair ranks #1,884,221 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of feed vs fred
Shared letters: def. Private to "feed": -. Private to "fred": r.
"feed" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "fred" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "feed" and "fred" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "feed" or "fred"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "feed" and "fred" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "feed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fred" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,884,221 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "feed" and "fred" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "feed vs feels". 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 #1,884,221 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.