Which to use
“faults” is a noun and “faulty” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,545
- “faults” frequency rank
- #12,596
- “faulty” frequency rank
- 24141
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | faults | faulty |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of fault | Having or displaying faults; not perfect; not adequate or acceptable. |
Where the eye mixes faults and faulty
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. faults (CVVCCC) and faulty (CVVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses faults with faulty
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: faults is /fɔːlts/ while faulty is /ˈfɒlti/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - s in “faults” becomes y in “faulty”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24141, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
faults is recorded at frequency rank #11,545, classified as anoun, pronounced /fɔːlts/. faulty is at rank #12,596, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈfɒlti/.
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 24141, this pair ranks #404,129 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of faults vs faulty
Shared letters: afltu. Private to "faults": s. Private to "faulty": y.
"faults" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCC · "faulty" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "faults" for "faulty" ever safe?
Which is more common, "faults" or "faulty"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "faults" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "faulty" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #404,129 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "faults" and "faulty" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "faulty vs fealty". 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 #404,129 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.