Which to use
“flee” and “flew” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,469
- “flee” frequency rank
- #5,497
- “flew” frequency rank
- 14966
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | flee | flew |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To run away; to escape. | simple past of fly |
Where the eye mixes flee and flew
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between flee and flew
A purely visual mix-up. flee (/fliː/) and flew (/fluː/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - e in “flee” becomes w in “flew”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14966, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
flee is recorded at frequency rank #9,469, classified as averb, pronounced /fliː/. 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 14966, this pair ranks #466,869 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of flee vs flew
Shared letters: efl. Private to "flee": -. Private to "flew": w.
"flee" · 4 letters · shape CCVV · "flew" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "flee" for "flew" ever safe?
Which is more common, "flee" or "flew"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "flee" and "flew" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "flee" 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 #466,869 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "flee" and "flew" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fleck vs flee". 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 #466,869 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.