Which to use
“fleck” is a noun and “flee” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,748
- “fleck” frequency rank
- #9,469
- “flee” frequency rank
- 58217
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fleck | flee |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A flake. | To run away; to escape. |
Where the eye mixes fleck and flee
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. fleck runs 5 letters (CCVCC) against flee's 4 (CCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: fleck vs flee
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fleck is /flɛk/ while flee is /fliː/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58217, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fleck is recorded at frequency rank #48,748, classified as anoun, pronounced /flɛk/. flee is at rank #9,469, tagged as averb, pronounced /fliː/.
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 58217, this pair ranks #114,020 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fleck vs flee
Shared letters: efl. Private to "fleck": ck. Private to "flee": -.
"fleck" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "flee" · 4 letters · shape CCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fleck" and "flee" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "fleck" or "flee" show up more?
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 "fleck" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "flee" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #114,020 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fleck" and "flee" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fleck vs frock". 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 #114,020 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.