Which to use
“faeces” is a noun and “flees” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #41,118
- “faeces” frequency rank
- #33,653
- “flees” frequency rank
- 74771
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | faeces | flees |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Alternative spelling of feces. | third-person singular simple present indicative of flee |
Letter map: faeces vs flees
Shared letters muted; letters that set faeces and flees apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.
Role in the sentence - faeces and flees
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: faeces is anoun and fleesaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74771, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
faeces is recorded at frequency rank #41,118, classified as anoun. flees is at rank #33,653, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈfliːz/.
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 74771, this pair ranks #35,263 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of faeces vs flees
Shared letters: efs. Private to "faeces": ac. Private to "flees": l.
"faeces" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "flees" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "faeces" for "flees" ever safe?
Which is more common, "faeces" or "flees"?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "faeces" and "flees".
- Full dictionary entry for "faeces" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "flees" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #35,263 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "faeces" and "flees" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "faeces vs Fawkes". 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 #35,263 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.