Which to use
“figures” and “fires” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,898
- “figures” frequency rank
- #5,417
- “fires” frequency rank
- 7315
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | figures | fires |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of figure | plural of fire |
Where the eye mixes figures and fires
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses figures with fires
A purely visual mix-up. figures (/ˈfɪɡjɚz/) and fires (/ˈfaɪ̯ə(ɹ)z/) 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 7315, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
figures is recorded at frequency rank #1,898, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfɪɡjɚz/. fires is at rank #5,417, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈfaɪ̯ə(ɹ)z/.
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 7315, this pair ranks #507,653 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of figures vs fires
Shared letters: efirs. Private to "figures": gu. Private to "fires": -.
"figures" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "fires" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "figures" and "fires" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "figures" or "fires"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "figures" and "fires" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "figures" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fires" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #507,653 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "figures" and "fires" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fars vs fires". 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 #507,653 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.