Which to use
“flatter” is an adjective and “flattery” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,359
- “flatter” frequency rank
- #30,423
- “flattery” frequency rank
- 50782
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | flatter | flattery |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | comparative form of flat: more flat | Excessive praise or approval, which is often insincere and sometimes contrived to win favour. |
Where the eye mixes flatter and flattery
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: flatter vs flattery
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: flatter is /ˈflætɚ/ while flattery is /ˈflæt.ə.ɹi/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “flatter” sits inside “flattery”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50782, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
flatter is recorded at frequency rank #20,359, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈflætɚ/. flattery is at rank #30,423, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈflæt.ə.ɹi/.
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 50782, this pair ranks #171,194 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of flatter vs flattery
Shared letters: aeflrt. Private to "flatter": -. Private to "flattery": y.
"flatter" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "flattery" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "flatter" for "flattery" ever safe?
Frequency check: "flatter" vs "flattery" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "flatter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "flattery" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #171,194 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "flatter" and "flattery" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "flatter vs floater". 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 #171,194 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.