Which to use
“flagrant” and “fragrant” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,550
- “flagrant” frequency rank
- #22,091
- “fragrant” frequency rank
- 50641
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | flagrant | fragrant |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Obvious and offensive; blatant; scandalous. | Sweet-smelling; having a pleasant (usually strong) scent or fragrance. |
Where the eye mixes flagrant and fragrant
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses flagrant with fragrant
A purely visual mix-up. flagrant (/ˈfleɪ.ɡɹənt/) and fragrant (/ˈfɹeɪ.ɡɹənt/) 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 a single letter - l in “flagrant” becomes r in “fragrant”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50641, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
flagrant is recorded at frequency rank #28,550, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈfleɪ.ɡɹənt/. fragrant is at rank #22,091, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈfɹeɪ.ɡɹənt/.
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 50641, this pair ranks #172,443 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of flagrant vs fragrant
Shared letters: afgnrt. Private to "flagrant": l. Private to "fragrant": -.
"flagrant" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC · "fragrant" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "flagrant" for "fragrant" ever safe?
Which is more common, "flagrant" or "fragrant"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "flagrant" and "fragrant" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "flagrant" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fragrant" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #172,443 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "flagrant" and "fragrant" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fragrance vs fragrant". 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 #172,443 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.