Which to use
“fess” and “frees” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #43,640
- “fess” frequency rank
- #22,978
- “frees” frequency rank
- 66618
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fess | frees |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To confess; to admit. | third-person singular simple present indicative of free |
Where the eye mixes fess and frees
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. fess runs 4 letters (CVCC) against frees's 5 (CCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between fess and frees
A purely visual mix-up. fess (/fɛs/) and frees (/fɹiːz/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66618, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fess is recorded at frequency rank #43,640, classified as averb, pronounced /fɛs/. frees is at rank #22,978, tagged as averb, pronounced /fɹiːz/.
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 66618, this pair ranks #67,163 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fess vs frees
Shared letters: efs. Private to "fess": -. Private to "frees": r.
"fess" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "frees" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fess" and "frees" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "fess" vs "frees" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "fess" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "frees" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #67,163 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fess" and "frees" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fenn vs fess". 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 #67,163 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.