farvsFSBWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“far” and “FSB” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#16,418
“far” frequency rank
#41,175
“FSB” frequency rank
57593
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature far FSB
Definition Vater russischer Inlandsgeheimdienst und Geheimpolizei

Where the eye mixes far and FSB

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. far (CVC) and FSB (CCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

3 ch
far
3 ch
FSB

Look-alike desk: far vs FSB

A purely visual mix-up. far ([faː]) and FSB ([ɛfʔɛsˈbeː]) 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 57593, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

far is recorded at frequency rank #16,418, classified as anoun, pronounced [faː]. FSB is at rank #41,175, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɛfʔɛsˈbeː].

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 57593, this pair ranks #895,437 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of far vs FSB

Shared letters: f. Private to "far": ar. Private to "FSB": bs.

"far" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "FSB" · 3 letters · shape CCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "far" and "FSB" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([faː] versus [ɛfʔɛsˈbeː]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "far" or "FSB"?
"far" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,418 in our German list, against #41,175 for "FSB". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "far" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "FSB" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #895,437 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "far" and "FSB" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fist vs FSB". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #895,437 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list