feedervsfolderConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#15,815
“feeder” frequency rank
#10,548
“folder” frequency rank
26363
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature feeder folder
Definition One who feeds, or gives food to another. An organizer that papers are kept in, usually with an index tab, to be stored as a single unit in a filing cabinet.

Where the eye mixes feeder and folder

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

6 ch
feeder
6 ch
folder

Visual trap between feeder and folder

A purely visual mix-up. feeder (/ˈfidɚ/) and folder (/ˈfoʊɫdɚ/) 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 26363, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

feeder is recorded at frequency rank #15,815, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfidɚ/. folder is at rank #10,548, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈfoʊɫdɚ/.

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 26363, this pair ranks #387,261 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of feeder vs folder

Shared letters: defr. Private to "feeder": -. Private to "folder": lo.

"feeder" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "folder" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • feederefeder · fedeer · feder · feedder · feederr · feedre · feeedr · ffeeder
  • folderffolder · floder · fodler · foldder · folderr · foldre · foledr · follder

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "feeder" and "folder" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈfidɚ/ versus /ˈfoʊɫdɚ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "feeder" vs "folder" - which ranks higher?
"folder" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,548 in our English list, against #15,815 for "feeder". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "feeder" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "folder" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #387,261 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "feeder" and "folder" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "feeder vs Feeney". 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 #387,261 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