Which to use
“fae” is an adjective and “fakes” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #34,882
- “fae” frequency rank
- #21,513
- “fakes” frequency rank
- 56395
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fae | fakes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Alternative spelling of fey (“magical, fairylike”). | plural of fake |
Letter map: fae vs fakes
Shared letters muted; letters that set fae and fakes apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.
Grammar separator: fae vs fakes
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: fae is anadjective and fakesanoun. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56395, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fae is recorded at frequency rank #34,882, classified as anadj. fakes is at rank #21,513, tagged as anoun, pronounced /feɪks/.
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 56395, this pair ranks #126,616 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fae vs fakes
Shared letters: aef. Private to "fae": -. Private to "fakes": ks.
"fae" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "fakes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- fakes ← afkes · faeks · fakess · fakkes · fakse · ffakes · fkaes
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fae" and "fakes" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "fae" or "fakes"?
What to do next
You've compared "fae" and "fakes". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "fae" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fakes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #126,616 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fae" and "fakes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fae vs foh". 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 #126,616 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.