Which to use
“fork” and “fur” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,788
- “fork” frequency rank
- #6,789
- “fur” frequency rank
- 13577
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fork | fur |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Any of several types of pronged (tined) tools (physical tools), as follows: | The hairy coat of various mammal species, especially when fine, soft and thick. |
Where the eye mixes fork and fur
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses fork with fur
A purely visual mix-up. fork (/fɔːk/) and fur (/fɜː/) 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 13577, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fork is recorded at frequency rank #6,788, classified as anoun, pronounced /fɔːk/. fur is at rank #6,789, tagged as anoun, pronounced /fɜː/.
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 13577, this pair ranks #474,974 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fork vs fur
Shared letters: fr. Private to "fork": ko. Private to "fur": u.
"fork" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "fur" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- fork ← ffork · fokr · forkk · forrk · frok · ofrk
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fork" for "fur" ever safe?
Which is more common, "fork" or "fur"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fork" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #474,974 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fork" and "fur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "FOMO vs fork". 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 #474,974 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.