flakedvsflamedWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#49,922
“flaked” frequency rank
#48,238
“flamed” frequency rank
98160
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature flaked flamed
Definition simple past and past participle of flake simple past and past participle of flame

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
flaked
6 ch
flamed

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. flaked (/fleɪkt/) and flamed (/fleɪmd/) 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 - k in “flaked” becomes m in “flamed”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 98160, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

flaked is recorded at frequency rank #49,922, classified as averb, pronounced /fleɪkt/. flamed is at rank #48,238, tagged as averb, pronounced /fleɪmd/.

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 98160, this pair ranks #177 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of flaked vs flamed

Shared letters: adefl. Private to "flaked": k. Private to "flamed": m.

"flaked" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "flamed" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • flakedfalked · fflaked · flaekd · flakde · flakedd · flakked · flkaed · fllaked
  • flamedfalmed · fflamed · flaemd · flamde · flamedd · flammed · fllamed · flmaed

Frequency comparison

flaked#49,922
flamed#48,238

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "flaked" and "flamed" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/fleɪkt/ versus /fleɪmd/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "flaked" or "flamed"?
"flamed" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #48,238 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 flaked vs flamed

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 “flaked” 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