Which to use
“flack” is a verb and “flak” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,799
- “flack” frequency rank
- #26,792
- “flak” frequency rank
- 57591
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | flack | flak |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To flutter; palpitate. | Ground-based anti-aircraft guns firing explosive shells. |
Same sound, different letters: flack vs flak
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 4 letters.
Same sound, different spelling - flack / flak
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: flack and flak carry the same recorded pronunciation, /flæk/. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57591, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
flack is recorded at frequency rank #30,799, classified as averb, pronounced /flæk/. flak is at rank #26,792, tagged as anoun, pronounced /flæk/.
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 57591, this pair ranks #118,312 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of flack vs flak
Shared letters: afkl. Private to "flack": c. Private to "flak": -.
"flack" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "flak" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "flack" and "flak" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "flack" or "flak" show up more?
What to do next
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "flack" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "flak" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #118,312 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "flack" and "flak" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "flack vs flail". 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 #118,312 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.