Which to use
“figure” and “figurine” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #904
- “figure” frequency rank
- #34,889
- “figurine” frequency rank
- 35793
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | figure | figurine |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A drawing or diagram conveying information. | A small carved or molded figure; a statuette. |
Where the eye mixes figure and figurine
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses figure with figurine
A purely visual mix-up. figure (/ˈfɪɡə/) and figurine (/fɪɡ(j)əˈɹin/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35793, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
figure is recorded at frequency rank #904, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfɪɡə/. figurine is at rank #34,889, tagged as anoun, pronounced /fɪɡ(j)əˈɹin/.
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 35793, this pair ranks #308,883 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of figure vs figurine
Shared letters: efgiru. Private to "figure": -. Private to "figurine": n.
"figure" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "figurine" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "figure" and "figurine" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "figure" or "figurine"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "figure" and "figurine" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "figure" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "figurine" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #308,883 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "figure" and "figurine" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "figurine vs figuring". 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 #308,883 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.