flipsvsflopConfusable pair

Quick tell: flips is a noun, flop is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“flips” is a noun and “flop” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#19,838
“flips” frequency rank
#13,720
“flop” frequency rank
33558
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature flips flop
Definition plural of flip To fall heavily due to lack of energy.

Where the eye mixes flips and flop

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
flips
4 ch
flop

Visual trap between flips and flop

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: flips is /flɪps/ while flop is /flɒp/. 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 33558, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

flips is recorded at frequency rank #19,838, classified as anoun, pronounced /flɪps/. flop is at rank #13,720, tagged as averb, pronounced /flɒp/.

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 33558, this pair ranks #328,364 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of flips vs flop

Shared letters: flp. Private to "flips": is. Private to "flop": o.

"flips" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "flop" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • flipsfflips · filps · flipps · flipss · flisp · fllips · flpis · lfips
  • flopfflop · fllop · flopp · flpo · folp · lfop

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "flips" and "flop" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "flips" is a noun and "flop" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "flips" vs "flop" - which ranks higher?
"flop" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,720 in our English list, against #19,838 for "flips". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "flips" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "flop" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #328,364 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "flips" and "flop" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "flop vs foh". 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 #328,364 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list