Which to use
“flume” and “flush” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,562
- “flume” frequency rank
- #9,610
- “flush” frequency rank
- 46172
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | flume | flush |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A ravine or gorge, usually one with water running through. | A group of birds that have suddenly started up from undergrowth, trees, etc. |
Where the eye mixes flume and flush
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. flume (CCVCV) and flush (CCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses flume with flush
A purely visual mix-up. flume (/fluːm/) 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 46172, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
flume is recorded at frequency rank #36,562, classified as anoun, pronounced /fluːm/. 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 46172, this pair ranks #214,253 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of flume vs flush
Shared letters: flu. Private to "flume": em. Private to "flush": hs.
"flume" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "flush" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "flume" and "flush" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "flume" or "flush"?
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 "flume" 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 #214,253 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "flume" and "flush" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "flamed vs flume". 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 #214,253 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.