filthyvsfrothyConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#9,608
“filthy” frequency rank
#45,381
“frothy” frequency rank
54989
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature filthy frothy
Definition Covered with filth; very dirty. Foamy or churned to the point of becoming infused with bubbles.

Letter map: filthy vs frothy

Shared letters muted; letters that set filthy and frothy apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.

6 ch
filthy
6 ch
frothy

Corpus notes: filthy and frothy

filthy and frothy are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54989, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

filthy is recorded at frequency rank #9,608, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈfɪlθi/. frothy is at rank #45,381, tagged as anadj.

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 54989, this pair ranks #136,964 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of filthy vs frothy

Shared letters: fhty. Private to "filthy": il. Private to "frothy": or.

"filthy" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "frothy" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • filthyffilthy · filhty · fillthy · filthhy · filthyy · filtthy · filtyh · fitlhy
  • frothyffrothy · forthy · frohty · frothhy · frothyy · frotthy · frotyh · frrothy

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "filthy" for "frothy" ever safe?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "filthy" vs "frothy" - which ranks higher?
"filthy" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,608 in our English list, against #45,381 for "frothy". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "filthy" and "frothy".

  • Full dictionary entry for "filthy" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "frothy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #136,964 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "filthy" and "frothy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "frith vs frothy". 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 #136,964 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