flakedvsflukeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: flaked is a verb, fluke is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“flaked” is a verb and “fluke” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#49,922
“flaked” frequency rank
#24,159
“fluke” frequency rank
74081
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature flaked fluke
Definition simple past and past participle of flake A lucky or improbable occurrence that could probably never be repeated.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set flaked and fluke apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
flaked
5 ch
fluke

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: flaked is /fleɪkt/ while fluke is /fluːk/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74081, 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/. fluke is at rank #24,159, tagged as anoun, pronounced /fluːk/.

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 74081, this pair ranks #37,478 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of flaked vs fluke

Shared letters: efkl. Private to "flaked": ad. Private to "fluke": u.

"flaked" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "fluke" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • flakedfalked · fflaked · flaekd · flakde · flakedd · flakked · flkaed · fllaked
  • flukeffluke · flkue · flluke · fluek · flukke · fulke · lfuke

Frequency comparison

flaked#49,922
fluke#24,159

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "flaked" and "fluke" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "flaked" is a verb and "fluke" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "flaked" or "fluke"?
"fluke" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,159 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 fluke

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “flaked”; for a noun, it's “fluke”.
  • 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