Which to use
“fil” and “filth” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,085
- “fil” frequency rank
- #16,914
- “filth” frequency rank
- 35999
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fil | filth |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A Nordic dairy product, similar to yogurt, but using different bacteria which give a different taste and texture. | Dirt; foul matter; that which soils or defiles. |
Where the eye mixes fil and filth
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses fil with filth
A purely visual mix-up. fil (/fiːl/) and filth (/fɪlθ/) 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 extra letter(s) - “fil” sits inside “filth”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35999, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fil is recorded at frequency rank #19,085, classified as anoun, pronounced /fiːl/. filth is at rank #16,914, tagged as anoun, pronounced /fɪlθ/.
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 35999, this pair ranks #307,084 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fil vs filth
Shared letters: fil. Private to "fil": -. Private to "filth": ht.
"fil" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "filth" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- filth ← ffilth · filht · fillth · filthh · filtth · fitlh · flith · iflth
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fil" and "filth" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "fil" vs "filth" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "fil" and "filth" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "fil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "filth" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #307,084 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fil" and "filth" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fil vs foh". 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 #307,084 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.