flaskvsflasksWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#22,379
“flask” frequency rank
#44,207
“flasks” frequency rank
66586
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature flask flasks
Definition A narrow-necked vessel of metal or glass, used for various purposes; as of sheet metal, to carry gunpowder in; or of wrought iron, to contain quicksilver; or of glass, to heat water in, etc. plural of flask

Where the eye mixes flask and flasks

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
flask
6 ch
flasks

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. flask (/ˈflɑːsk/) and flasks (/flɑːsks/) 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 extra letter(s) - “flask” sits inside “flasks”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66586, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

flask is recorded at frequency rank #22,379, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈflɑːsk/. flasks is at rank #44,207, tagged as anoun, pronounced /flɑːsks/.

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 66586, this pair ranks #67,306 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of flask vs flasks

Shared letters: afkls. Private to "flask": -. Private to "flasks": -.

"flask" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "flasks" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • flaskfalsk · fflask · flaks · flaskk · flassk · fllask · flsak · lfask
  • flasksfalsks · fflasks · flakss · flaskks · flaskss · flassks · fllasks · flsaks

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "flask" and "flasks" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈflɑːsk/ versus /flɑːsks/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "flask" or "flasks"?
"flask" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,379 in our English list, against #44,207 for "flasks". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "flask" and "flasks". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "flask" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "flasks" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #67,306 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "flask" and "flasks" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "flaky vs flasks". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list