Which to use
“fila” and “fist” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,763
- “fila” frequency rank
- #26,368
- “fist” frequency rank
- 73131
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fila | fist |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de filer. | Deuxième personne du singulier de l’impératif présent de fisten. |
Where the eye mixes fila and fist
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. fila (CVCV) and fist (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses fila with fist
A purely visual mix-up. fila (\fi.la\) and fist (\fɪst\) 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 73131, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fila is recorded at frequency rank #46,763, classified as averb, pronounced \fi.la\. fist is at rank #26,368, tagged as averb, pronounced \fɪst\.
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 73131, this pair ranks #41,513 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fila vs fist
Shared letters: fi. Private to "fila": al. Private to "fist": st.
"fila" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "fist" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fila" and "fist" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "fila" or "fist"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fila" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fist" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #41,513 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fila" and "fist" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fila vs filez". 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 #41,513 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.