Which to use
“fear” is a noun and “fey” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #29,122
- “fear” frequency rank
- #43,868
- “fey” frequency rank
- 72990
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fear | fey |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (die Emotion) Furcht | (aus dem schottischen) todgeweiht |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fear and fey apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: fear is anoun and feyanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72990, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fear is recorded at frequency rank #29,122, classified as anoun, pronounced [fɪə]. fey is at rank #43,868, tagged as anadj, pronounced […].
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 72990, this pair ranks #372,788 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fear vs fey
Shared letters: ef. Private to "fear": ar. Private to "fey": y.
"fear" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "fey" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- fear ← efar · faer · fearr · fera · ffear
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fear" and "fey" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "fear" or "fey"?
Remembering fear vs fey
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “fear”; for an adjective, it's “fey”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fear” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable