Which to use
“flow” and “flue” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,111
- “flow” frequency rank
- #38,401
- “flue” frequency rank
- 40512
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | flow | flue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Movement in people or things characterized with a continuous motion, involving either a non solid mass or a multitude. | A pipe or duct that carries gaseous combustion products away from the point of combustion (such as a furnace). |
Where the eye mixes flow and flue
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses flow with flue
A purely visual mix-up. flow (/fləʊ/) and flue (/fluː/) 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 40512, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
flow is recorded at frequency rank #2,111, classified as anoun, pronounced /fləʊ/. flue is at rank #38,401, tagged as anoun, 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 40512, this pair ranks #266,891 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of flow vs flue
Shared letters: fl. Private to "flow": ow. Private to "flue": eu.
"flow" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "flue" · 4 letters · shape CCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "flow" for "flue" ever safe?
Frequency check: "flow" vs "flue" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "flow" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "flue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #266,891 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "flow" and "flue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "flue vs fou". 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 #266,891 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.