flesh

/flɛʃ/

//flɛʃ// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"flesh" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“flesh” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,128. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,128
frequency rank, English
2,507
“F” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The soft tissue of the body, especially muscle and fat.

Corpus desk

Index EN-flesh · flesh · English

flesh · rank #5,128 · 8 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,128
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,507
  • PHOTO-FINISH fa

Nearest frequency peer: fa (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “flesh”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “flesh” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

flesh vs flew
60% similar
flesh vs flex
60% similar
flesh vs foes
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for flesh
PropertyValue
Headwordflesh
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/flɛʃ/
Letters5
Frequency rank#5,128
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “flesh”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).fleshlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “fa” (#5,127), “flip” (#5,129), “experiments” (#5,126). Among 2,507 “F” headwords, “flesh” is #5,128. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around flesh (IPA /flɛʃ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #5,128 among 2,507 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 11 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for flesh, with forms such as "felsh", "fflesh", and "flehs". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "flew", "flex", "foes", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English flesh, flesch, flæsch, from Old English flǣsċ, from Proto-West Germanic *flaiski, from Proto-Germanic *flaiski, from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁ḱ- (“to tear, peel off”). Cognates Cognate with Yola vleash, vlesh (“flesh”), North Frisian fl… The correct English form is flesh, spelled F-L-E-S-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    The soft tissue of the body, especially muscle and fat.
  2. 2
    The skin of a human or animal.
  3. 3
    Bare arms, bare legs, bare torso.
  4. 4
    Animal tissue regarded as food; meat (but sometimes excluding fish).
  5. 5
    The human body as a physical entity.
  6. 6
    The mortal body of a human being, contrasted with the spirit or soul.
  7. 7
    The evil and corrupting principle working in man.
  8. 8
    The soft, often edible, parts of fruits or vegetables.
  9. 9
    Tenderness of feeling; gentleness.
  10. 10
    Kindred; stock; race.
  11. 11
    A yellowish pink color; the color of some Caucasian human skin.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how flesh appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The flesh of chicken, fowl, and turkey has much shorter fibre than that of ruminating animals, and is not intermingled with fat,—the fat always being found in layers directly under the skin, and surrounding the intestines.
  2. Thenne syr launcelot sayd / fader what shalle I do / Now sayd the good man / I requyre yow take this hayre that was this holy mans and putte it nexte thy skynne / and it shalle preuaylle the gretely / syr and I wille doo hit sayd sir launcelot / Also I charge you that ye ete no flesshe as longe as ye be in the quest of the sancgreal / nor ye shalle drynke…

Etymology

From Middle English flesh, flesch, flæsch, from Old English flǣsċ, from Proto-West Germanic *flaiski, from Proto-Germanic *flaiski, from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁ḱ- (“to tear, peel off”). Cognates Cognate with Yola vleash, vlesh (“flesh”), North Frisian flaasch, flaosk, Fleesk, fleäsk, floask, flääsk, flååsch (“flesh, meat”), Saterland Frisian Flaask (“flesh, meat”), West Frisian fleis (“flesh, meat”), Cimbrian blòas, vlaisch, vlòas (“flesh, meat”), Dutch vlees, vleesch (“flesh, meat”), German Fleisch (“flesh, meat”), German Low German and Luxembourgish Fleesch (“flesh, meat”), Vilamovian fłaś (“meat; muscle”), Yiddish פֿלייש (fleysh, “flesh, meat”), Danish flæsk (“pork; bacon”), Faroese, Icelandic, and Norwegian Nynorsk flesk (“pork; bacon”), Swedish fläsk (“pork”).

This word in other languages

carne(Español)chair(Français)Fleisch(Deutsch)carne(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • felsh
  • fflesh
  • flehs
  • fleshh
  • flessh
  • fllesh
  • flseh
  • lfesh

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of flesh - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

felsh2fflesh1flehs2fleshh1flessh1fllesh1flseh2lfesh2
Edit distance from "flesh"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "flesh"?
"flesh" is spelled F-L-E-S-H. The IPA pronunciation is /flɛʃ/.
What does "flesh" mean?
As a noun, "flesh" means: The soft tissue of the body, especially muscle and fat.
What words are commonly confused with "flesh"?
"flesh" is commonly confused with "flew", "flex", "foes". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "flesh"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "flesh" is /flɛʃ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "flesh"?
From Middle English flesh, flesch, flæsch, from Old English flǣsċ, from Proto-West Germanic *flaiski, from Proto-Germanic *flaiski, from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁ḱ- (“to tear, peel off”). Cognates Cognate with Yola vleash, vlesh (“flesh”), North ... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "flesh", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

forty#5,130hated#5,133laser#5,140dealt#5,115

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

eighth8 variantspatch8 variantssorts8 variantsquoted8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list