FSB

[ɛfʔɛsˈbeː]

/[ɛfʔɛsˈbeː]/ noun

The verdict

“FSB” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #41,175) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#41,175
frequency rank, German
3,474
“F” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - russischer Inlandsgeheimdienst und Geheimpolizei

Corpus desk

Index DE-fsb · FSB · German

FSB · rank #41,175 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #41,175
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-0 0 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,474
  • PHOTO-FINISH frings

Nearest frequency peer: frings (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Häufigkeitsnachbarn des Verwechslers „FSB“

Peers mit ähnlichem Corpus-Gewicht, getrennt von den Verwechslungspaaren unten

corpus weight

What this shows Balken platzieren „FSB“ gegen die nächsten gerankten deutschen Lemmata, kein Reprint der Verwechslungsdesk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

FSB vs FW
33% similar
FSB vs FV
33% similar
FSB vs für
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for FSB
PropertyValue
HeadwordFSB
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ɛfʔɛsˈbeː]
Letters3
Frequency rank#41,175
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus-Rang neben Verwechslern von „FSB“

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).FSBliegt auf dieser Marke:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „frings“ (#41,174), „funktionell“ (#41,176), „freischalten“ (#41,173). Unter 3,474 „F“-Lemmata liegt „FSB“ bei #41,175. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for FSB is neighbouring look-alikes ("FW", "FV", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced [ɛfʔɛsˈbeː]. Frequency #41,175 among 3,474 “F” headwords. Gloss: "russischer Inlandsgeheimdienst und Geheimpolizei".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for FSB, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "FW", "FV", "für", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct German form is FSB, spelled F-S-B.

Definition

  1. 1
    russischer Inlandsgeheimdienst und Geheimpolizei

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how FSB appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. „Er betrachtete die Bombe als eine Art Lebensversicherung für den Fall, dass der FSB oder eine ausländische Strafverfolgungsbehörde ihn hinter Gitter brachte, so wie es seinem Vater passiert war.“

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "FSB"?
"FSB" is spelled F-S-B. The IPA pronunciation is [ɛfʔɛsˈbeː].
What does "FSB" mean?
As a noun, "FSB" means: russischer Inlandsgeheimdienst und Geheimpolizei
What words are commonly confused with "FSB"?
"FSB" is commonly confused with "FW", "FV", "für". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "FSB"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "FSB" is [ɛfʔɛsˈbeː]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "FSB" come from?
"FSB" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "FSB", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list