Which to use
“foes” and “frets” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,472
- “foes” frequency rank
- #44,214
- “frets” frequency rank
- 60686
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | foes | frets |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of foe | plural of fret |
Where the eye mixes foes and frets
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. foes runs 4 letters (CVVC) against frets's 5 (CCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses foes with frets
A purely visual mix-up. foes (/fəʊz/) and frets (/fɹɛts/) 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 60686, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
foes is recorded at frequency rank #16,472, classified as anoun, pronounced /fəʊz/. frets is at rank #44,214, tagged as anoun, pronounced /fɹɛts/.
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 60686, this pair ranks #98,704 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of foes vs frets
Shared letters: efs. Private to "foes": o. Private to "frets": rt.
"foes" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "frets" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "foes" and "frets" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "foes" or "frets"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "foes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "frets" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #98,704 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "foes" and "frets" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fredo vs frets". 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 #98,704 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.