Which to use
“fill” and “fix” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,297
- “fill” frequency rank
- #1,826
- “fix” frequency rank
- 4123
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fill | fix |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To make full | To pierce; now generally replaced by transfix. |
Where the eye mixes fill and fix
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses fill with fix
A purely visual mix-up. fill (/fɪl/) and fix (/ˈfɪks/) 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 4123, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fill is recorded at frequency rank #2,297, classified as averb, pronounced /fɪl/. fix is at rank #1,826, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈfɪks/.
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 4123, this pair ranks #519,915 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fill vs fix
Shared letters: fi. Private to "fill": l. Private to "fix": x.
"fill" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "fix" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- fill ← ffill · flil · ifll
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fill" and "fix" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "fill" or "fix"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "fill" and "fix" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "fill" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fix" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #519,915 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fill" and "fix" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fix 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 #519,915 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.