filovsflowTell them apart

Which to use

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

#10,668
“filo” frequency rank
#22,021
“flow” frequency rank
32689
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature filo flow
Definition En un instrumento cortante, el borde agudo que corta. Capacidad de rapear de forma armoniosa con el ritmo de la canción.

Where the eye mixes filo and flow

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

4 ch
filo
4 ch
flow

Why the eye confuses filo with flow

A purely visual mix-up. filo ([ˈfilo]) and flow ([ˈflow]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32689, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

filo is recorded at frequency rank #10,668, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfilo]. flow is at rank #22,021, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈflow].

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 32689, this pair ranks #200,697 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of filo vs flow

Shared letters: flo. Private to "filo": i. Private to "flow": w.

"filo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "flow" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • filoffilo · fillo · fiol · flio · iflo
  • flowfflow · fllow · floww · flwo · folw · lfow

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "filo" and "flow" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfilo] versus [ˈflow]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "filo" or "flow" show up more?
"filo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,668 in our Spanish list, against #22,021 for "flow". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "filo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "flow" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #200,697 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "filo" and "flow" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "flow vs flower". 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 #200,697 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