Which to use
“forget” and “fret” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #924
- “forget” frequency rank
- #20,362
- “fret” frequency rank
- 21286
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | forget | fret |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To lose remembrance of. | Especially when describing animals: to consume, devour, or eat. |
Where the eye mixes forget and fret
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. forget runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against fret's 4 (CCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses forget with fret
A purely visual mix-up. forget (/fəˈɡɛt/) and fret (/fɹɛt/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21286, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
forget is recorded at frequency rank #924, classified as averb, pronounced /fəˈɡɛt/. fret is at rank #20,362, tagged as averb, pronounced /fɹɛt/.
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 21286, this pair ranks #424,990 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of forget vs fret
Shared letters: efrt. Private to "forget": go. Private to "fret": -.
"forget" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "fret" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "forget" for "fret" ever safe?
Which is more common, "forget" or "fret"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "forget" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fret" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #424,990 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "forget" and "fret" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fredo vs fret". 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 #424,990 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.