Which to use
“forties” is a noun and “fortify” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,467
- “forties” frequency rank
- #32,810
- “fortify” frequency rank
- 60277
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | forties | fortify |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The fifth decade of a century: the 1840s, 1940s, 2040s, etc. | To give power, strength, or vigour to (oneself or someone, or to something); to strengthen. |
Letter map: forties vs fortify
Shared letters muted; letters that set forties and fortify apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. forties (CVCCVVC) and fortify (CVCCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Grammar separator: forties vs fortify
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: forties is anoun and fortifyaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60277, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
forties is recorded at frequency rank #27,467, classified as anoun. fortify is at rank #32,810, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈfɔːtɪfaɪ/.
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 60277, this pair ranks #101,105 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of forties vs fortify
Shared letters: fiort. Private to "forties": es. Private to "fortify": y.
"forties" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "fortify" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "forties" for "fortify" ever safe?
Frequency check: "forties" vs "fortify" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pair "forties" vs "fortify" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "forties" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fortify" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #101,105 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "forties" and "fortify" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "follies vs forties". 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 #101,105 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.