fartvsflirtWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: fart is a verb, flirt is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“fart” is a verb and “flirt” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#13,147
“fart” frequency rank
#14,539
“flirt” frequency rank
27686
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fart flirt
Definition To emit digestive gases from the anus; to flatulate. A sudden jerk; a quick throw or cast; a darting motion

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fart and flirt apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
fart
5 ch
flirt

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fart is /fɑːt/ while flirt is /flɜːt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27686, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fart is recorded at frequency rank #13,147, classified as averb, pronounced /fɑːt/. flirt is at rank #14,539, tagged as anoun, pronounced /flɜːt/.

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 27686, this pair ranks #376,933 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fart vs flirt

Shared letters: frt. Private to "fart": a. Private to "flirt": il.

"fart" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "flirt" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fartafrt · farrt · fartt · fatr · ffart
  • flirtfflirt · filrt · flirrt · flirtt · flitr · fllirt · flrit · lfirt

Frequency comparison

fart#13,147
flirt#14,539

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fart" and "flirt" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fart" is a verb and "flirt" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fart" or "flirt"?
"fart" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,147 in our English list, against #14,539 for "flirt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fart vs flirt

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “fart”; for a noun, it's “flirt”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fart” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list