Which to use
“failed” and “foiled” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,596
- “failed” frequency rank
- #29,659
- “foiled” frequency rank
- 31255
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | failed | foiled |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of fail | simple past and past participle of foil |
Where the eye mixes failed and foiled
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: failed vs foiled
A purely visual mix-up. failed (/feɪld/) and foiled (/fɔɪld/) 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 - a in “failed” becomes o in “foiled”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31255, 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/. foiled is at rank #29,659, tagged as averb, pronounced /fɔɪld/.
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 31255, this pair ranks #347,672 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of failed vs foiled
Shared letters: defil. Private to "failed": a. Private to "foiled": o.
"failed" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "foiled" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "failed" and "foiled" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "failed" vs "foiled" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "failed" and "foiled" 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 "foiled" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #347,672 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "failed" and "foiled" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "foiled vs Foyle". 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 #347,672 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.