Fair or fear?
fair is an adjective meaning “Unblemished (figuratively or literally); clean and pure; innocent”; fear is a noun meaning “A strong, unpleasant emotion or feeling caused by actual or perceived danger or…”. Use fair as an adjective and fear as a noun (fear is also an adjective: “Able; capable; stout; strong; sound”). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) fair is about as common as fear.
What is the difference between fair and fear?
| fair | fear | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | adjective, noun, verb, adverb | noun, verb, adjective |
| Meaning | Unblemished (figuratively or literally); clean and pure; innocent Light in color, pale, particularly with regard to skin tone but also referring to blond and red hair Something which is fair (in various senses of the adjective) | A strong, unpleasant emotion or feeling caused by actual or perceived danger or threat A phobia, a sense of fear induced by something or someone in particular To be afraid of (something or someone); to consider or expect (something or someone) with alarm |
| Example | Monday's child is fair of face | He was struck by fear on seeing the snake |
| Forms | fairer, fairest | fears |
| Pronunciation | /ˈfɛə/ [ˈfɛə̯] [ˈfɛː] | /fɪə/ [fɪə̯] /fɪː/ |
| In writing | 98 times per million words | 89 times per million words |
Sources: fair and fear in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of fair and fear
fair
- 1
Unblemished (figuratively or literally); clean and pure; innocent
one's fair name
- 2
Something which is fair (in various senses of the adjective)
When will we learn to distinguish between the fair and the foul?
- 3
To smoothen or even a surface (especially a connection or junction on a surface)
- 4
Clearly, openly, frankly, civilly, honestly, favorably, auspiciously, agreeably
- 5
A community gathering to celebrate and exhibit local achievements
- 6
Acronym of findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability, a set of principles for data management
- 7
Light in color, pale, particularly with regard to skin tone but also referring to blond and red hair
She had fair hair and blue eyes
- 8
A fair woman; a sweetheart
fear
- 1
A strong, unpleasant emotion or feeling caused by actual or perceived danger or threat
He was struck by fear on seeing the snake
- 2
To be afraid of (something or someone); to consider or expect (something or someone) with alarm
I fear the worst will happen
- 3
Able; capable; stout; strong; sound
hale and fear
- 4
A phobia, a sense of fear induced by something or someone in particular
Not everybody has the same fears
- 5
To feel fear
Never fear; help is always near
- 6
Something one is afraid of; the object of one’s fear
Spiders are my greatest fear
- 7
To worry about, to feel concern for, to be afraid for [with for]
She fears for her son’s safety
- 8
Terrified veneration or reverence, particularly towards God, gods, or sovereigns
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, fair or fear?
fair appears 98 times per million words; fear 89 times per million words.
fair 98 times per million wordsfear 89 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).