Which to use
“filet” and “fist” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,982
- “filet” frequency rank
- #8,423
- “fist” frequency rank
- 45405
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | filet | fist |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Alternative spelling of fillet. | A hand with the fingers clenched or curled inward. |
Where the eye mixes filet and fist
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. filet runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against fist's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: filet vs fist
A purely visual mix-up. filet (/ˈfɪleɪ/) and fist (/fɪst/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45405, 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/. fist is at rank #8,423, tagged as anoun, pronounced /fɪst/.
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 45405, this pair ranks #221,546 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of filet vs fist
Shared letters: fit. Private to "filet": el. Private to "fist": s.
"filet" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "fist" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "filet" for "fist" ever safe?
Frequency check: "filet" vs "fist" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "filet" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fist" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #221,546 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "filet" and "fist" 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 #221,546 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.