filvsfilónTell them apart

Which to use

“fil” and “filón” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#38,124
“fil” frequency rank
#42,452
“filón” frequency rank
80576
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fil filón
Definition Elefante. Masa metálifera o pétrea que llena una grieta de las rocas, frecuentemente depositada por sedimentación de aguas subterráneas o de origen volcánico.

Where the eye mixes fil and filón

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. fil runs 3 letters (CVC) against filón's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

3 ch
fil
5 ch
filón

Look-alike desk: fil vs filón

A purely visual mix-up. fil ([ˈfil]) and filón ([fiˈlõn]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “fil” sits inside “filón”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80576, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fil is recorded at frequency rank #38,124, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfil]. filón is at rank #42,452, tagged as anoun, pronounced [fiˈlõn].

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 80576, this pair ranks #11,472 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fil vs filón

Shared letters: fil. Private to "fil": -. Private to "filón": nó.

"fil" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "filón" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fil" and "filón" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfil] versus [fiˈlõn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fil" or "filón"?
"fil" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,124 in our Spanish list, against #42,452 for "filón". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "fil" and "filón" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "filón" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #11,472 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fil" and "filón" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "filón vs filos". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #11,472 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list