Which to use
“filly” is a noun and “filthy” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,832
- “filly” frequency rank
- #9,608
- “filthy” frequency rank
- 33440
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | filly | filthy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A young female horse. | Covered with filth; very dirty. |
Where the eye mixes filly and filthy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between filly and filthy
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: filly is /ˈfɪli/ while filthy is /ˈfɪlθi/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33440, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
filly is recorded at frequency rank #23,832, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfɪli/. filthy is at rank #9,608, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈfɪlθi/.
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 33440, this pair ranks #329,453 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of filly vs filthy
Shared letters: fily. Private to "filly": -. Private to "filthy": ht.
"filly" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "filthy" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "filly" and "filthy" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "filly" or "filthy" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "filly" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "filthy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #329,453 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "filly" and "filthy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "feely vs filly". 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 #329,453 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.