Which to use
“failed” and “fooled” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,596
- “failed” frequency rank
- #12,980
- “fooled” frequency rank
- 14576
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | failed | fooled |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of fail | simple past and past participle of fool |
Where the eye mixes failed and fooled
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between failed and fooled
A purely visual mix-up. failed (/feɪld/) and fooled (/fuːld/) 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 14576, 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/. fooled is at rank #12,980, tagged as averb, pronounced /fuːld/.
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 14576, this pair ranks #469,187 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of failed vs fooled
Shared letters: defl. Private to "failed": ai. Private to "fooled": o.
"failed" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "fooled" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "failed" and "fooled" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "failed" or "fooled"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "failed" and "fooled" 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 "fooled" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #469,187 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "failed" and "fooled" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fooled 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 #469,187 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.