Which to use
“feed” and “frees” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,155
- “feed” frequency rank
- #22,978
- “frees” frequency rank
- 25133
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | feed | frees |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To give (someone or something) food to eat. | third-person singular simple present indicative of free |
Where the eye mixes feed and frees
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses feed with frees
A purely visual mix-up. feed (/ˈfiːd/) and frees (/fɹiːz/) 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 25133, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
feed is recorded at frequency rank #2,155, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈfiːd/. frees is at rank #22,978, tagged as averb, pronounced /fɹiːz/.
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 25133, this pair ranks #396,689 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of feed vs frees
Shared letters: ef. Private to "feed": d. Private to "frees": rs.
"feed" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "frees" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "feed" and "frees" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "feed" or "frees" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "feed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "frees" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #396,689 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "feed" and "frees" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fredo vs frees". 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 #396,689 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.