Which to use
“fail” is a noun and “FBI” is an abbrev - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,286
- “fail” frequency rank
- #9,189
- “FBI” frequency rank
- 36475
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fail | FBI |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ein Ausfall, ein Fehlschlag | Federal Bureau of Investigation, die Ermittlungsbehörde der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika |
Where the eye mixes fail and FBI
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between fail and FBI
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fail is [feɪl] while FBI is [ɛfbiːˈʔaɪ̯]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs abbrev), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36475, 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]. FBI is at rank #9,189, tagged as anabbrev, pronounced [ɛfbiːˈʔaɪ̯].
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 36475, this pair ranks #1,614,704 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fail vs FBI
Shared letters: fi. Private to "fail": al. Private to "FBI": b.
"fail" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "FBI" · 3 letters · shape CCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- fail ← afil · faill · fali · ffail · fial
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fail" and "FBI" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "fail" or "FBI"?
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 "fail" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "FBI" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,614,704 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fail" and "FBI" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fail vs fils". 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 #1,614,704 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.