Which to use
“fond” is an adjective and “fox” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,424
- “fond” frequency rank
- #2,204
- “fox” frequency rank
- 10628
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fond | fox |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Having a liking or affection (for). | A small-to-medium-sized canine mammal, related to dogs and wolves, with a flattened skull, upright triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail, of the following groups: |
Where the eye mixes fond and fox
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between fond and fox
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fond is /fɒnd/ while fox is /fɒks/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10628, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fond is recorded at frequency rank #8,424, classified as anadj, pronounced /fɒnd/. fox is at rank #2,204, tagged as anoun, pronounced /fɒks/.
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 10628, this pair ranks #491,342 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fond vs fox
Shared letters: fo. Private to "fond": dn. Private to "fox": x.
"fond" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "fox" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- fond ← ffond · fnod · fodn · fondd · fonnd · ofnd
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fond" and "fox" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "fond" vs "fox" - 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 "fond" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fox" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #491,342 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fond" and "fox" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "FOMO vs fond". 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 #491,342 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.