Which to use
“fleas” and “flesh” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,061
- “fleas” frequency rank
- #5,128
- “flesh” frequency rank
- 30189
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fleas | flesh |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of flea | The soft tissue of the body, especially muscle and fat. |
Where the eye mixes fleas and flesh
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fleas (CCVVC) and flesh (CCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: fleas vs flesh
A purely visual mix-up. fleas (/ˈfliːz/) and flesh (/flɛʃ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30189, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fleas is recorded at frequency rank #25,061, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfliːz/. flesh is at rank #5,128, tagged as anoun, pronounced /flɛʃ/.
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 30189, this pair ranks #356,659 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fleas vs flesh
Shared letters: efls. Private to "fleas": a. Private to "flesh": h.
"fleas" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "flesh" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fleas" for "flesh" ever safe?
Frequency check: "fleas" vs "flesh" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fleas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "flesh" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #356,659 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fleas" and "flesh" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fleas vs fleck". 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 #356,659 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.