Which to use
“feels” is a noun and “flees” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,338
- “feels” frequency rank
- #33,653
- “flees” frequency rank
- 34991
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | feels | flees |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of feel, sensory perceptions that mainly or solely involve the sense of touch | third-person singular simple present indicative of flee |
Where the eye mixes feels and flees
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses feels with flees
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: feels is /fiːlz/ while flees is /ˈfliːz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they are an anagram pair: the same letters reordered, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34991, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
feels is recorded at frequency rank #1,338, classified as anoun, pronounced /fiːlz/. flees is at rank #33,653, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈfliːz/.
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 34991, this pair ranks #315,878 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of feels vs flees
Shared letters: efls. Private to "feels": -. Private to "flees": -.
"feels" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "flees" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "feels" and "flees" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "feels" or "flees" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "feels" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "flees" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #315,878 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "feels" and "flees" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fleck vs flees". 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 #315,878 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.