filledvsfullerConfusable pair

Which to use

“filled” and “fuller” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,041
“filled” frequency rank
#9,751
“fuller” frequency rank
11792
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature filled fuller
Definition That is now full. comparative form of full: more full

Where the eye mixes filled and fuller

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
filled
6 ch
fuller

Look-alike desk: filled vs fuller

A purely visual mix-up. filled (/fɪld/) and fuller (/ˈfʊ.lə/) 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 11792, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

filled is recorded at frequency rank #2,041, classified as anadj, pronounced /fɪld/. fuller is at rank #9,751, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈfʊ.lə/.

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 11792, this pair ranks #485,098 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of filled vs fuller

Shared letters: efl. Private to "filled": di. Private to "fuller": ru.

"filled" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "fuller" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • filledffilled · fileld · fillde · filledd · fliled · iflled
  • fullerffuller · fluler · fulelr · fuler · fullerr · fullre · ufller

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "filled" and "fuller" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/fɪld/ versus /ˈfʊ.lə/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary English text, does "filled" or "fuller" show up more?
"filled" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,041 in our English list, against #9,751 for "fuller". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "filled" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fuller" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #485,098 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "filled" and "fuller" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Führer vs fuller". 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 #485,098 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list