Which to use
“filer” and “flyer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,321
- “filer” frequency rank
- #42,882
- “flyer” frequency rank
- 50203
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | filer | flyer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tordre ensemble plusieurs brins de chanvre, de lin, de soie, de laine, etc., pour qu’ils forment un fil. | Déguerpir, partir rapidement. |
Where the eye mixes filer and flyer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses filer with flyer
A purely visual mix-up. filer (\fi.le\) and flyer (\fla.je\) 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 50203, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
filer is recorded at frequency rank #7,321, classified as averb, pronounced \fi.le\. flyer is at rank #42,882, tagged as averb, pronounced \fla.je\.
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 50203, this pair ranks #164,488 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of filer vs flyer
Shared letters: eflr. Private to "filer": i. Private to "flyer": y.
"filer" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "flyer" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "filer" for "flyer" ever safe?
Frequency check: "filer" vs "flyer" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "filer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "flyer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #164,488 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "filer" and "flyer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "flour vs flyer". 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 #164,488 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.