Which to use
“flamed” and “fled” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,238
- “flamed” frequency rank
- #6,573
- “fled” frequency rank
- 54811
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | flamed | fled |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of flame | simple past and past participle of flee |
Where the eye mixes flamed and fled
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. flamed runs 6 letters (CCVCVC) against fled's 4 (CCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses flamed with fled
A purely visual mix-up. flamed (/fleɪmd/) and fled (/ˈflɛd/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54811, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
flamed is recorded at frequency rank #48,238, classified as averb, pronounced /fleɪmd/. fled is at rank #6,573, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈflɛd/.
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 54811, this pair ranks #138,306 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of flamed vs fled
Shared letters: defl. Private to "flamed": am. Private to "fled": -.
"flamed" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "fled" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "flamed" and "fled" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "flamed" or "fled"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "flamed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fled" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #138,306 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "flamed" and "fled" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "flaked vs flamed". 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 #138,306 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.