foodievsfoodsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#26,796
“foodie” frequency rank
#3,561
“foods” frequency rank
30357
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature foodie foods
Definition A person with a special interest in or knowledge of food, a gourmet. plural of food

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set foodie and foods apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
foodie
5 ch
foods

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. foodie (/ˈfuːdi/) and foods (/fuːdz/) 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 30357, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

foodie is recorded at frequency rank #26,796, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfuːdi/. foods is at rank #3,561, tagged as anoun, pronounced /fuːdz/.

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 30357, this pair ranks #355,202 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of foodie vs foods

Shared letters: dfo. Private to "foodie": ei. Private to "foods": s.

"foodie" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVV  ·  "foods" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • foodieffoodie · fodie · fodoie · fooddie · foodei · fooide · ofodie
  • foodsffoods · fodos · fods · foodds · foodss · foosd · ofods

Frequency comparison

foodie#26,796
foods#3,561

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "foodie" and "foods" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈfuːdi/ versus /fuːdz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "foodie" or "foods"?
"foods" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,561 in our English list, against #26,796 for "foodie". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering foodie vs foods

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 “foodie” 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