fedsvsfieldsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“feds” and “fields” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#14,535
“feds” frequency rank
#2,485
“fields” frequency rank
17020
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature feds fields
Definition plural of fed plural of field

Where the eye mixes feds and fields

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
feds
6 ch
fields

Visual trap between feds and fields

A purely visual mix-up. feds (/fɛdz/) and fields (/fiːldz/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17020, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

feds is recorded at frequency rank #14,535, classified as anoun, pronounced /fɛdz/. fields is at rank #2,485, tagged as anoun, pronounced /fiːldz/.

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 17020, this pair ranks #454,120 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of feds vs fields

Shared letters: defs. Private to "feds": -. Private to "fields": il.

"feds" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "fields" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fedsefds · fdes · fedds · fedss · fesd · ffeds
  • fieldsfeilds · ffields · fiedls · fieldds · fieldss · fiellds · fielsd · fileds

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "feds" for "fields" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/fɛdz/ versus /fiːldz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "feds" or "fields"?
"fields" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,485 in our English list, against #14,535 for "feds". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "feds" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fields" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #454,120 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "feds" and "fields" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "feds vs Fenn". 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 #454,120 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list