Which to use
“fail” and “fairy” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,286
- “fail” frequency rank
- #48,134
- “fairy” frequency rank
- 75420
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fail | fairy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ein Ausfall, ein Fehlschlag | die Fee |
Where the eye mixes fail and fairy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. fail runs 4 letters (CVVC) against fairy's 5 (CVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between fail and fairy
A purely visual mix-up. fail ([feɪl]) and fairy ([ˈfɛəɹɪ]) 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 75420, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fail is recorded at frequency rank #27,286, classified as anoun, pronounced [feɪl]. fairy is at rank #48,134, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɛəɹɪ].
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 75420, this pair ranks #308,433 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fail vs fairy
Shared letters: afi. Private to "fail": l. Private to "fairy": ry.
"fail" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "fairy" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fail" for "fairy" ever safe?
Frequency check: "fail" vs "fairy" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "fail" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fairy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #308,433 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fail" and "fairy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fairy vs firm". 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 #308,433 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.