Which to use
“fears” and “flags” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,416
- “fears” frequency rank
- #6,141
- “flags” frequency rank
- 11557
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fears | flags |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of fear | plural of flag |
Where the eye mixes fears and flags
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses fears with flags
A purely visual mix-up. fears (/fɪəz/) and flags (/flæɡz/) 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 11557, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fears is recorded at frequency rank #5,416, classified as anoun, pronounced /fɪəz/. flags is at rank #6,141, tagged as anoun, pronounced /flæɡz/.
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 11557, this pair ranks #486,381 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fears vs flags
Shared letters: afs. Private to "fears": er. Private to "flags": gl.
"fears" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "flags" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fears" for "flags" ever safe?
Which is more common, "fears" or "flags"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "fears" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "flags" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #486,381 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fears" and "flags" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "flags vs flail". 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 #486,381 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.