facedvsfecesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: faced is a verb, feces is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“faced” is a verb and “feces” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,057
“faced” frequency rank
#21,795
“feces” frequency rank
24852
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature faced feces
Definition simple past and past participle of face Digested waste material (typically solid or semi-solid) discharged from a human or other mammal's stomach to the intestines; excrement.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set faced and feces apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
faced
5 ch
feces

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

faced and feces form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24852, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

faced is recorded at frequency rank #3,057, classified as averb, pronounced /feɪst/. feces is at rank #21,795, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈfiːsiːz/.

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 24852, this pair ranks #398,842 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Frequency comparison

faced#3,057
feces#21,795

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "faced" and "feces" be used interchangeably?
No, "faced" and "feces" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering faced vs feces

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “faced”; for a noun, it's “feces”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “faced” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list