Which to use
“fils” and “Filz” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,670
- “fils” frequency rank
- #24,717
- “Filz” frequency rank
- 74387
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fils | Filz |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | männlicher Nachkomme: Sohn | wirrer Faserstoff, der aus nicht gesponnenen (Tier)haaren oder Wolle durch Zusammenpressen hergestellt wird |
Where the eye mixes fils and Filz
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. fils and Filz follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses fils with Filz
A purely visual mix-up. fils ([fis]) and Filz ([fɪlt͡s]) 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 a single letter - s in “fils” becomes z in “Filz”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74387, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fils is recorded at frequency rank #49,670, classified as anoun, pronounced [fis]. Filz is at rank #24,717, tagged as anoun, pronounced [fɪlt͡s].
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 74387, this pair ranks #334,856 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fils vs Filz
Shared letters: fil. Private to "fils": s. Private to "Filz": z.
"fils" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "Filz" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fils" for "Filz" ever safe?
Frequency check: "fils" vs "Filz" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fils" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Filz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #334,856 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fils" and "Filz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fils vs fist". 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 #334,856 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.