Which to use
“fail” and “fill” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,441
- “fail” frequency rank
- #2,297
- “fill” frequency rank
- 4738
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fail | fill |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To be unsuccessful. | To make full |
Where the eye mixes fail and fill
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. fail (/feɪl/) and fill (/fɪl/) 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 4738, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fail is recorded at frequency rank #2,441, classified as averb, pronounced /feɪl/. fill is at rank #2,297, tagged as averb, pronounced /fɪl/.
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 4738, this pair ranks #517,850 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fail vs fill
Shared letters: fil. Private to "fail": a. Private to "fill": -.
"fail" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "fill" · 4 letters · shape CVCC