Which to use
“film” and “filth” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #633
- “film” frequency rank
- #16,914
- “filth” frequency rank
- 17547
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | film | filth |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A thin layer of some substance; a pellicle; a membranous covering, causing opacity. | Dirt; foul matter; that which soils or defiles. |
Where the eye mixes film and filth
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses film with filth
A purely visual mix-up. film (/fɪlm/) and filth (/fɪlθ/) 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 17547, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
film is recorded at frequency rank #633, classified as anoun, pronounced /fɪlm/. filth is at rank #16,914, tagged as anoun, pronounced /fɪlθ/.
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 17547, this pair ranks #450,711 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of film vs filth
Shared letters: fil. Private to "film": m. Private to "filth": ht.
"film" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "filth" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "film" and "filth" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "film" or "filth"?
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 "film" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "filth" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #450,711 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "film" and "filth" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "filth vs frith". 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 #450,711 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.