Which to use
“failure” and “figure” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,939
- “failure” frequency rank
- #904
- “figure” frequency rank
- 2843
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | failure | figure |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | State or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, opposite of success. | A drawing or diagram conveying information. |
Where the eye mixes failure and figure
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses failure with figure
A purely visual mix-up. failure (/ˈfeɪ.ljə/) and figure (/ˈfɪɡə/) 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 2843, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
failure is recorded at frequency rank #1,939, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfeɪ.ljə/. figure is at rank #904, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈfɪɡə/.
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 2843, this pair ranks #523,880 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of failure vs figure
Shared letters: efiru. Private to "failure": al. Private to "figure": g.
"failure" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCV · "figure" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "failure" for "figure" ever safe?
Frequency check: "failure" vs "figure" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "failure" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "figure" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #523,880 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "failure" and "figure" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "figure vs fugue". 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 #523,880 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.