Which to use
“failed” and “fixed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,596
- “failed” frequency rank
- #2,042
- “fixed” frequency rank
- 3638
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | failed | fixed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of fail | simple past and past participle of fix |
Where the eye mixes failed and fixed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: failed vs fixed
A purely visual mix-up. failed (/feɪld/) and fixed (/fɪkst/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3638, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
failed is recorded at frequency rank #1,596, classified as averb, pronounced /feɪld/. fixed is at rank #2,042, tagged as averb, pronounced /fɪkst/.
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 3638, this pair ranks #521,483 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of failed vs fixed
Shared letters: defi. Private to "failed": al. Private to "fixed": x.
"failed" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "fixed" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "failed" and "fixed" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "failed" vs "fixed" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "failed" and "fixed" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "failed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fixed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #521,483 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "failed" and "fixed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "facile vs failed". 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 #521,483 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.