Which to use
“facility” and “fatality” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,484
- “facility” frequency rank
- #23,537
- “fatality” frequency rank
- 26021
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | facility | fatality |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The physical means or contrivances to make something (especially a public service) possible; the required equipment, infrastructure, location etc. | The state proceeding from destiny; invincible necessity, superior to, and independent of, free and rational control. |
Where the eye mixes facility and fatality
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: facility vs fatality
A purely visual mix-up. facility (/fəˈsɪl.ᵻ.ti/) and fatality (/feɪˈtælɪti/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26021, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
facility is recorded at frequency rank #2,484, classified as anoun, pronounced /fəˈsɪl.ᵻ.ti/. fatality is at rank #23,537, tagged as anoun, pronounced /feɪˈtælɪti/.
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 26021, this pair ranks #389,830 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of facility vs fatality
Shared letters: afilty. Private to "facility": c. Private to "fatality": -.
"facility" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV · "fatality" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "facility" for "fatality" ever safe?
Frequency check: "facility" vs "fatality" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "facility" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fatality" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #389,830 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "facility" and "fatality" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fatality vs finality". 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 #389,830 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.