Which to use
“fay” and “feat” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,636
- “fay” frequency rank
- #10,279
- “feat” frequency rank
- 56915
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fay | feat |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine Fee | bemerkenswerte oder außergewöhnliche Leistung oder Tat; Großtat |
Where the eye mixes fay and feat
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. fay runs 3 letters (CVV) against feat's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between fay and feat
A purely visual mix-up. fay ([feɪ]) and feat ([fiːt]) 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 56915, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fay is recorded at frequency rank #46,636, classified as anoun, pronounced [feɪ]. feat is at rank #10,279, tagged as anoun, pronounced [fiːt].
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 56915, this pair ranks #921,766 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fay vs feat
Shared letters: af. Private to "fay": y. Private to "feat": et.
"fay" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "feat" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- feat ← efat · faet · featt · feta · ffeat
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fay" and "feat" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "fay" or "feat"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fay" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "feat" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #921,766 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fay" and "feat" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fairy vs fay". 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 #921,766 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.