Which to use
“flash” is a verb and “flush” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,299
- “flash” frequency rank
- #9,610
- “flush” frequency rank
- 12909
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | flash | flush |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To cause to shine briefly or intermittently. | A group of birds that have suddenly started up from undergrowth, trees, etc. |
Where the eye mixes flash and flush
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between flash and flush
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: flash is /flæʃ/ while flush is /ˈflʌʃ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “flash” becomes u in “flush”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12909, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
flash is recorded at frequency rank #3,299, classified as averb, pronounced /flæʃ/. flush is at rank #9,610, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈflʌʃ/.
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 12909, this pair ranks #478,840 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of flash vs flush
Shared letters: fhls. Private to "flash": a. Private to "flush": u.
"flash" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "flush" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "flash" for "flush" ever safe?
Frequency check: "flash" vs "flush" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "flash" and "flush" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "flash" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "flush" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #478,840 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "flash" and "flush" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "flail vs flash". 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 #478,840 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.