Which to use
“fellow” and “fellows” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,791
- “fellow” frequency rank
- #9,333
- “fellows” frequency rank
- 11124
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fellow | fellows |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A companion; a comrade. | plural of fellow |
Where the eye mixes fellow and fellows
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: fellow vs fellows
A purely visual mix-up. fellow (/ˈfɛləʊ/) and fellows (/ˈfɛloʊz/) 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 extra letter(s) - “fellow” sits inside “fellows”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11124, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fellow is recorded at frequency rank #1,791, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfɛləʊ/. fellows is at rank #9,333, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈfɛloʊz/.
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 11124, this pair ranks #488,773 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fellow vs fellows
Shared letters: eflow. Private to "fellow": -. Private to "fellows": s.
"fellow" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "fellows" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fellow" and "fellows" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "fellow" vs "fellows" - which ranks higher?
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 "fellow" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fellows" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #488,773 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fellow" and "fellows" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fellows vs Fells". 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 #488,773 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.