Which to use
“filling” and “fooling” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,221
- “filling” frequency rank
- #19,339
- “fooling” frequency rank
- 24560
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | filling | fooling |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of fill | present participle and gerund of fool |
Where the eye mixes filling and fooling
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between filling and fooling
A purely visual mix-up. filling (/ˈfɪlɪŋ/) and fooling (/ˈfuːlɪŋ/) 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 24560, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
filling is recorded at frequency rank #5,221, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈfɪlɪŋ/. fooling is at rank #19,339, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈfuːlɪŋ/.
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 24560, this pair ranks #401,062 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of filling vs fooling
Shared letters: fgiln. Private to "filling": -. Private to "fooling": o.
"filling" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "fooling" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "filling" for "fooling" ever safe?
Which is more common, "filling" or "fooling"?
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 "filling" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fooling" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #401,062 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "filling" and "fooling" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fondling vs fooling". 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 #401,062 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.