faecesvsFatesConfusable pair

Quick tell: faeces is a noun, Fates is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“faeces” is a noun and “Fates” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#41,118
“faeces” frequency rank
#22,966
“Fates” frequency rank
64084
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature faeces Fates
Definition Alternative spelling of feces. Atropos, Clotho, and Lachesis; supernatural beings who controlled the destiny of men and of the gods.

Letter map: faeces vs Fates

Shared letters muted; letters that set faeces and Fates apart highlighted. Shared run: 4. faeces runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against Fates's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
faeces
5 ch
Fates

Grammar separator: faeces vs Fates

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: faeces is anoun and Fatesaname. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64084, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

faeces is recorded at frequency rank #41,118, classified as anoun. Fates is at rank #22,966, tagged as aname, pronounced /feɪts/.

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 64084, this pair ranks #79,566 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of faeces vs Fates

Shared letters: aefs. Private to "faeces": c. Private to "Fates": t.

"faeces" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "Fates" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • faeces ← afeces · facees · faecces · faecess · faecse · faeecs · feaces · ffaeces
  • Fates ← aftes · faets · fatess · fatse · fattes · ffates · ftaes

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "faeces" and "Fates" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "faeces" is a noun and "Fates" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary English text, does "faeces" or "Fates" show up more?
"Fates" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,966 in our English list, against #41,118 for "faeces". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pair "faeces" vs "Fates" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "faeces" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Fates" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #79,566 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "faeces" and "Fates" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "faeces vs Fawkes". 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 #79,566 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list