Which to use
“fifth” is an adjective and “fifty” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,719
- “fifth” frequency rank
- #4,376
- “fifty” frequency rank
- 6095
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fifth | fifty |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The ordinal form of the number five. | The cardinal number occurring after forty-nine and before fifty-one. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fifth and fifty apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
fifth and fifty form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by a single letter - h in “fifth” becomes y in “fifty” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6095, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fifth is recorded at frequency rank #1,719, classified as anadj, pronounced /fɪfθ/. fifty is at rank #4,376, tagged as anum, pronounced /ˈfɪfti/.
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 6095, this pair ranks #512,760 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fifth" and "fifty" be used interchangeably?
Remembering fifth vs fifty
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “fifth”; for a num, it's “fifty”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fifth” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable