Which to use
“free” is an adjective and “fume” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #211
- “free” frequency rank
- #45,384
- “fume” frequency rank
- 45595
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | free | fume |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Unconstrained. | A gas or vapour/vapor that is strong-smelling or dangerous to inhale. |
Where the eye mixes free and fume
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. free (CCVV) and fume (CVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: free vs fume
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: free is /fɹiː/ while fume is /fjuːm/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45595, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
free is recorded at frequency rank #211, classified as anadj, pronounced /fɹiː/. fume is at rank #45,384, tagged as anoun, pronounced /fjuːm/.
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 45595, this pair ranks #219,775 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of free vs fume
Shared letters: ef. Private to "free": r. Private to "fume": mu.
"free" · 4 letters · shape CCVV · "fume" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "free" for "fume" ever safe?
Frequency check: "free" vs "fume" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "free" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fume" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #219,775 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "free" and "fume" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "FOMO vs fume". 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 #219,775 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.