Which to use
“fleas” and “flows” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,061
- “fleas” frequency rank
- #5,682
- “flows” frequency rank
- 30743
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fleas | flows |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of flea | plural of flow |
Where the eye mixes fleas and flows
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses fleas with flows
A purely visual mix-up. fleas (/ˈfliːz/) and flows (/fləʊz/) 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 30743, 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/. flows is at rank #5,682, tagged as anoun, pronounced /fləʊz/.
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 30743, this pair ranks #351,964 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fleas vs flows
Shared letters: fls. Private to "fleas": ae. Private to "flows": ow.
"fleas" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "flows" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fleas" for "flows" ever safe?
Frequency check: "fleas" vs "flows" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "fleas" and "flows" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "fleas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "flows" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #351,964 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fleas" and "flows" 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 #351,964 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.