Which to use
“fluke” and “flush” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,159
- “fluke” frequency rank
- #9,610
- “flush” frequency rank
- 33769
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fluke | flush |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A lucky or improbable occurrence that could probably never be repeated. | A group of birds that have suddenly started up from undergrowth, trees, etc. |
Where the eye mixes fluke and flush
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: fluke vs flush
A purely visual mix-up. fluke (/fluːk/) and flush (/ˈflʌʃ/) 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 33769, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fluke is recorded at frequency rank #24,159, classified as anoun, pronounced /fluːk/. flush is at rank #9,610, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈflʌʃ/.
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 33769, this pair ranks #326,572 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fluke vs flush
Shared letters: flu. Private to "fluke": ek. Private to "flush": hs.
"fluke" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "flush" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fluke" for "flush" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "fluke" or "flush" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fluke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "flush" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #326,572 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fluke" and "flush" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "flaked vs fluke". 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 #326,572 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.