Which to use
“fumes” and “fuse” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,566
- “fumes” frequency rank
- #12,605
- “fuse” frequency rank
- 31171
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fumes | fuse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of fume | A cord that, when lit, conveys the fire to some explosive device, such as a bomb. |
Where the eye mixes fumes and fuse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: fumes vs fuse
A purely visual mix-up. fumes (/fjuːmz/) and fuse (/fjuːz/) 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 31171, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fumes is recorded at frequency rank #18,566, classified as anoun, pronounced /fjuːmz/. fuse is at rank #12,605, tagged as anoun, pronounced /fjuːz/.
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 31171, this pair ranks #348,399 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fumes vs fuse
Shared letters: efsu. Private to "fumes": m. Private to "fuse": -.
"fumes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "fuse" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fumes" for "fuse" ever safe?
Frequency check: "fumes" vs "fuse" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "fumes" and "fuse" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "fumes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fuse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #348,399 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fumes" and "fuse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fume vs fumes". 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 #348,399 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.