Which to use
“feel” and “flew” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #201
- “feel” frequency rank
- #5,497
- “flew” frequency rank
- 5698
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | feel | flew |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To use or experience the sense of touch. | simple past of fly |
Where the eye mixes feel and flew
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. feel (/fiːl/) and flew (/fluː/) 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 5698, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
feel is recorded at frequency rank #201, classified as averb, pronounced /fiːl/. flew is at rank #5,497, tagged as averb, pronounced /fluː/.
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 5698, this pair ranks #514,328 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of feel vs flew
Shared letters: efl. Private to "feel": -. Private to "flew": w.
"feel" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "flew" · 4 letters · shape CCVC