Which to use
“feel” and “fell” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #201
- “feel” frequency rank
- #1,483
- “fell” frequency rank
- 1684
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | feel | fell |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To use or experience the sense of touch. | To make something fall; especially to chop down a tree. |
Where the eye mixes feel and fell
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. feel (/fiːl/) and fell (/fɛl/) 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 a single letter - e in “feel” becomes l in “fell”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1684, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
feel is recorded at frequency rank #201, classified as averb, pronounced /fiːl/. fell is at rank #1,483, tagged as averb, pronounced /fɛl/.
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 1684, this pair ranks #526,903 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of feel vs fell
Shared letters: efl. Private to "feel": -. Private to "fell": -.
"feel" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "fell" · 4 letters · shape CVCC