faithsvsFatesWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#22,371
“faiths” frequency rank
#22,966
“Fates” frequency rank
45337
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature faiths Fates
Definition plural of faith. Atropos, Clotho, and Lachesis; supernatural beings who controlled the destiny of men and of the gods.

Where the eye mixes faiths and Fates

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. faiths runs 6 letters (CVVCCC) against Fates's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
faiths
5 ch
Fates

Why the eye confuses faiths with Fates

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: faiths is /feɪθs/ while Fates is /feɪts/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45337, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

faiths is recorded at frequency rank #22,371, classified as anoun, pronounced /feɪθs/. 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 45337, this pair ranks #222,182 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of faiths vs Fates

Shared letters: afst. Private to "faiths": hi. Private to "Fates": e.

"faiths" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCC  ·  "Fates" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • faiths ← afiths · faihts · faithhs · faithss · faitsh · faitths · fatihs · ffaiths
  • Fates ← aftes · faets · fatess · fatse · fattes · ffates · ftaes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "faiths" for "Fates" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "faiths" is a noun and "Fates" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "faiths" or "Fates"?
"faiths" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,371 in our English list, against #22,966 for "Fates". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "faiths" 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 #222,182 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "faiths" and "Fates" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fars vs Fates". 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 #222,182 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