fecesvsFellsWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: feces is a noun, Fells is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“feces” is a noun and “Fells” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,795
“feces” frequency rank
#45,926
“Fells” frequency rank
67721
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature feces Fells
Definition Digested waste material (typically solid or semi-solid) discharged from a human or other mammal's stomach to the intestines; excrement. A surname.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
feces
5 ch
Fells

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: feces is anoun and Fellsaname. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67721, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

feces is recorded at frequency rank #21,795, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfiːsiːz/. Fells is at rank #45,926, tagged as aname.

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 67721, this pair ranks #62,058 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of feces vs Fells

Shared letters: efs. Private to "feces": c. Private to "Fells": l.

"feces" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Fells" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fecesefces · fcees · fecces · fecess · fecse · feecs · ffeces
  • Fellseflls · fellss · felsl · ffells · flels

Frequency comparison

feces#21,795
Fells#45,926

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "feces" and "Fells" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "feces" is a noun and "Fells" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "feces" or "Fells"?
"feces" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,795 in our English list, against #45,926 for "Fells". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering feces vs Fells

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “feces”; for a name, it's “Fells”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “feces” 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