Which to use
“flake” and “flue” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,087
- “flake” frequency rank
- #38,401
- “flue” frequency rank
- 60488
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | flake | flue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A loose filmy mass or a thin chiplike layer of anything | A pipe or duct that carries gaseous combustion products away from the point of combustion (such as a furnace). |
Where the eye mixes flake and flue
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: flake vs flue
A purely visual mix-up. flake (/fleɪk/) and flue (/fluː/) 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 60488, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
flake is recorded at frequency rank #22,087, classified as anoun, pronounced /fleɪk/. flue is at rank #38,401, tagged as anoun, pronounced /fluː/.
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 60488, this pair ranks #99,930 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of flake vs flue
Shared letters: efl. Private to "flake": ak. Private to "flue": u.
"flake" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "flue" · 4 letters · shape CCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "flake" and "flue" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "flake" or "flue"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "flake" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "flue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #99,930 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "flake" and "flue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "flue vs fou". 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 #99,930 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.