Which to use
“flaw” is a noun and “flew” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,978
- “flaw” frequency rank
- #5,497
- “flew” frequency rank
- 18475
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | flaw | flew |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A flake, fragment, or shiver. | simple past of fly |
Where the eye mixes flaw and flew
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses flaw with flew
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: flaw is /flɔː/ while flew is /fluː/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “flaw” becomes e in “flew”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18475, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
flaw is recorded at frequency rank #12,978, classified as anoun, pronounced /flɔː/. flew is at rank #5,497, tagged as averb, pronounced /fluː/.
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 18475, this pair ranks #444,659 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of flaw vs flew
Shared letters: flw. Private to "flaw": a. Private to "flew": e.
"flaw" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "flew" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "flaw" for "flew" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "flaw" or "flew" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "flaw" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "flew" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #444,659 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "flaw" and "flew" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "flail vs flaw". 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 #444,659 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.