Which to use
“faults” and “fouls” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,545
- “faults” frequency rank
- #23,837
- “fouls” frequency rank
- 35382
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | faults | fouls |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of fault | plural of foul |
Where the eye mixes faults and fouls
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. faults runs 6 letters (CVVCCC) against fouls's 5 (CVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: faults vs fouls
A purely visual mix-up. faults (/fɔːlts/) and fouls (/faʊlz/) 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 35382, 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/. fouls is at rank #23,837, tagged as anoun, pronounced /faʊlz/.
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 35382, this pair ranks #312,480 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of faults vs fouls
Shared letters: flsu. Private to "faults": at. Private to "fouls": o.
"faults" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCC · "fouls" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "faults" and "fouls" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "faults" or "fouls"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "faults" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fouls" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #312,480 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "faults" and "fouls" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fou vs fouls". 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 #312,480 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.