filónvsflanWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#42,452
“filón” frequency rank
#26,857
“flan” frequency rank
69309
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature filón flan
Definition Masa metálifera o pétrea que llena una grieta de las rocas, frecuentemente depositada por sedimentación de aguas subterráneas o de origen volcánico. Postre preparado con yemas de huevo, leche y azúcar, aromatizado con vainilla o algún otro producto, y cocinado al baño maría con caramelo en la capa inferior.

Where the eye mixes filón and flan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. filón runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against flan's 4 (CCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
filón
4 ch
flan

Look-alike desk: filón vs flan

A purely visual mix-up. filón ([fiˈlõn]) and flan ([ˈflãn]) 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 69309, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

filón is recorded at frequency rank #42,452, classified as anoun, pronounced [fiˈlõn]. flan is at rank #26,857, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈflãn].

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 69309, this pair ranks #32,309 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of filón vs flan

Shared letters: fln. Private to "filón": ió. Private to "flan": a.

"filón" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "flan" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • flan ← faln · fflan · flann · fllan · flna · lfan

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "filón" and "flan" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fiˈlõn] versus [ˈflãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "filón" or "flan" show up more?
"flan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,857 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

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "filón" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "flan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #32,309 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "filón" and "flan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "filón vs filos". 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 #32,309 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