flushesvsflutesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“flushes” and “flutes” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#41,632
“flushes” frequency rank
#36,145
“flutes” frequency rank
77777
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature flushes flutes
Definition plural of flush plural of flute

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set flushes and flutes apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
flushes
6 ch
flutes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. flushes (/ˈflʌʃɪz/) and flutes (/fluːts/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77777, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

flushes is recorded at frequency rank #41,632, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈflʌʃɪz/. flutes is at rank #36,145, tagged as anoun, pronounced /fluːts/.

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 77777, this pair ranks #26,293 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of flushes vs flutes

Shared letters: eflsu. Private to "flushes": h. Private to "flutes": t.

"flushes" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "flutes" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • flushesfflushes · fllushes · flsuhes · fluhses · flusehs · flushess · flushhes · flushse
  • flutesfflutes · fllutes · fltues · fluets · flutess · flutse · fluttes · fultes

Frequency comparison

flushes#41,632
flutes#36,145

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "flushes" and "flutes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈflʌʃɪz/ versus /fluːts/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "flushes" or "flutes"?
"flutes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,145 in our English list, against #41,632 for "flushes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering flushes vs flutes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “flushes” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list