flutedvsflutesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: fluted is a adjective, flutes is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“fluted” is an adjective and “flutes” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#46,466
“fluted” frequency rank
#36,145
“flutes” frequency rank
82611
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fluted flutes
Definition Having flutes or grooves, either for decoration or to trim weight. plural of flute

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
fluted
6 ch
flutes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: fluted is anadjective and flutesanoun. On the page they differ by a single letter - d in “fluted” becomes s in “flutes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82611, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fluted is recorded at frequency rank #46,466, classified as anadj. 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 82611, this pair ranks #15,424 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fluted vs flutes

Shared letters: efltu. Private to "fluted": d. Private to "flutes": s.

"fluted" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "flutes" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • flutedffluted · flluted · fltued · fluetd · flutde · flutedd · flutted · fulted
  • flutesfflutes · fllutes · fltues · fluets · flutess · flutse · fluttes · fultes

Frequency comparison

fluted#46,466
flutes#36,145

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fluted" and "flutes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fluted" is an adjective and "flutes" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fluted" or "flutes"?
"flutes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,145 in our English list, against #46,466 for "fluted". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fluted vs flutes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “fluted”; for a noun, it's “flutes”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fluted” 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