flaggedvsflakedWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#19,337
“flagged” frequency rank
#49,922
“flaked” frequency rank
69259
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature flagged flaked
Definition simple past and past participle of flag simple past and past participle of flake

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set flagged and flaked apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
flagged
6 ch
flaked

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. flagged (/flæɡd/) and flaked (/fleɪkt/) 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 69259, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

flagged is recorded at frequency rank #19,337, classified as averb, pronounced /flæɡd/. flaked is at rank #49,922, tagged as averb, pronounced /fleɪkt/.

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 69259, this pair ranks #55,352 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of flagged vs flaked

Shared letters: adefl. Private to "flagged": g. Private to "flaked": k.

"flagged" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "flaked" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • flaggedfalgged · fflagged · flaged · flagegd · flaggde · flaggedd · flgaged · fllagged
  • flakedfalked · fflaked · flaekd · flakde · flakedd · flakked · flkaed · fllaked

Frequency comparison

flagged#19,337
flaked#49,922

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "flagged" and "flaked" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/flæɡd/ versus /fleɪkt/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "flagged" or "flaked"?
"flagged" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,337 in our English list, against #49,922 for "flaked". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering flagged vs flaked

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 “flagged” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list