Which to use
“fez” and “fil” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #203
- “fez” frequency rank
- #35,592
- “fil” frequency rank
- 35795
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fez | fil |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | barrete em forma de cone truncado (usado por alguns muçulmanos) | fio |
Where the eye mixes fez and fil
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. fez and fil follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between fez and fil
A purely visual mix-up. fez (/ˈfes/) and fil (/fil/) 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 35795, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fez is recorded at frequency rank #203, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfes/. fil is at rank #35,592, tagged as anoun, pronounced /fil/.
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 35795, this pair ranks #31,178 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fez vs fil
Shared letters: f. Private to "fez": ez. Private to "fil": il.
"fez" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "fil" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fez" for "fil" ever safe?
Which is more common, "fez" or "fil"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "fez" and "fil" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "fez" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fil" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #31,178 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fez" and "fil" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fil vs filão". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #31,178 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.