Which to use
“filet” and “filly” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,982
- “filet” frequency rank
- #23,832
- “filly” frequency rank
- 60814
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | filet | filly |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Alternative spelling of fillet. | A young female horse. |
Where the eye mixes filet and filly
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. filet (CVCVC) and filly (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: filet vs filly
A purely visual mix-up. filet (/ˈfɪleɪ/) and filly (/ˈfɪli/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60814, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
filet is recorded at frequency rank #36,982, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfɪleɪ/. filly is at rank #23,832, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈfɪli/.
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 60814, this pair ranks #97,924 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of filet vs filly
Shared letters: fil. Private to "filet": et. Private to "filly": y.
"filet" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "filly" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "filet" and "filly" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "filet" or "filly"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "filet" and "filly" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "filet" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "filly" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #97,924 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "filet" and "filly" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fidget vs filet". 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 #97,924 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.