Which to use
“films” and “filth” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,298
- “films” frequency rank
- #16,914
- “filth” frequency rank
- 19212
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | films | filth |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of film | Dirt; foul matter; that which soils or defiles. |
Where the eye mixes films and filth
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses films with filth
A purely visual mix-up. films (/fɪlmz/) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19212, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
films is recorded at frequency rank #2,298, classified as anoun, pronounced /fɪlmz/. 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 19212, this pair ranks #439,716 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of films vs filth
Shared letters: fil. Private to "films": ms. Private to "filth": ht.
"films" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "filth" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "films" and "filth" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "films" vs "filth" - which ranks higher?
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 "films" 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 #439,716 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "films" 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 #439,716 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.