finish vs fins, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#1,305
“finish” frequency rank: #18,079
“fins” frequency rank: 19384
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	finish	fins
Definition	An end; the end of anything.	plural of fin

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set finish and fins apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

finish

4 ch

fins

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. finish (/ˈfɪnɪʃ/) and fins (/fɪnz/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19384, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

finish is recorded at frequency rank #1,305, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfɪnɪʃ/. fins is at rank #18,079, tagged as anoun, pronounced /fɪnz/.

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 19384, this pair ranks #438,564 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of finish vs fins

Shared letters: fins. Private to "finish": h. Private to "fins": -.

"finish" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "fins" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

finish ← ffinish · fiinsh · finihs · finishh · finissh · finsih · fniish · ifnish
fins ← ffins · finss · fisn · fnis · ifns

Frequency comparison

finish#1,305

fins#18,079

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "finish" and "fins" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/ˈfɪnɪʃ/ versus /fɪnz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "finish" or "fins"?

"finish" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,305 in our English list, against #18,079 for "fins". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering finish vs fins

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “finish” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable