Which to use
“flutes” and “fuses” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,145
- “flutes” frequency rank
- #26,436
- “fuses” frequency rank
- 62581
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | flutes | fuses |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of flute | plural of fuse |
Where the eye mixes flutes and fuses
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. flutes runs 6 letters (CCVCVC) against fuses's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between flutes and fuses
A purely visual mix-up. flutes (/fluːts/) and fuses (/ˈfjuːzɪz/) 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 62581, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
flutes is recorded at frequency rank #36,145, classified as anoun, pronounced /fluːts/. fuses is at rank #26,436, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈfjuːzɪz/.
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 62581, this pair ranks #87,718 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of flutes vs fuses
Shared letters: efsu. Private to "flutes": lt. Private to "fuses": -.
"flutes" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "fuses" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "flutes" for "fuses" ever safe?
Frequency check: "flutes" vs "fuses" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "flutes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fuses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #87,718 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "flutes" and "fuses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fluted vs flutes". 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 #87,718 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.