fundsvsfusesConfusable pair

Which to use

“funds” and “fuses” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,862
“funds” frequency rank
#26,436
“fuses” frequency rank
28298
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature funds fuses
Definition plural of fund plural of fuse

Where the eye mixes funds and fuses

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
funds
5 ch
fuses

Why the eye confuses funds with fuses

A purely visual mix-up. funds (/fʌndz/) and fuses (/ˈfjuːzɪz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28298, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

funds is recorded at frequency rank #1,862, classified as anoun, pronounced /fʌndz/. fuses is at rank #26,436, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈfjuːzɪz/.

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 28298, this pair ranks #372,180 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of funds vs fuses

Shared letters: fsu. Private to "funds": dn. Private to "fuses": e.

"funds" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "fuses" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fundsffunds · fnuds · fudns · fundds · fundss · funnds · funsd · ufnds
  • fusesffuses · fsues · fuess · fusess · fusses · ufses

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "funds" and "fuses" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/fʌndz/ versus /ˈfjuːzɪz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "funds" or "fuses"?
"funds" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,862 in our English list, against #26,436 for "fuses". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "funds" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fuses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #372,180 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "funds" and "fuses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fume vs fuses". 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 #372,180 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list