Which to use
“fear” is a noun and “frag” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #29,122
- “fear” frequency rank
- #2,498
- “frag” frequency rank
- 31620
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fear | frag |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (die Emotion) Furcht | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Aktiv des Verbs fragen |
Where the eye mixes fear and frag
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between fear and frag
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fear is [fɪə] while frag is [fʁaːk]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31620, 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]. frag is at rank #2,498, tagged as averb, pronounced [fʁaːk].
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 31620, this pair ranks #1,724,495 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fear vs frag
Shared letters: afr. Private to "fear": e. Private to "frag": g.
"fear" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "frag" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fear" and "frag" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "fear" vs "frag" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fear" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "frag" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,724,495 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fear" and "frag" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fear vs ferry". 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 #1,724,495 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.