faithsvsfifthsTell them apart

Which to use

“faiths” and “fifths” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#22,371
“faiths” frequency rank
#27,150
“fifths” frequency rank
49521
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature faiths fifths
Definition plural of faith. plural of fifth

Where the eye mixes faiths and fifths

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. faiths (CVVCCC) and fifths (CVCCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
faiths
6 ch
fifths

Visual trap between faiths and fifths

A purely visual mix-up. faiths (/feɪθs/) and fifths (/fɪfθs/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49521, 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/. fifths is at rank #27,150, tagged as anoun, pronounced /fɪfθs/.

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 49521, this pair ranks #182,792 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of faiths vs fifths

Shared letters: fhist. Private to "faiths": a. Private to "fifths": -.

"faiths" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCC  ·  "fifths" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • faiths ← afiths · faihts · faithhs · faithss · faitsh · faitths · fatihs · ffaiths
  • fifths ← ffifths · ffiths · fiffths · fifhts · fifthhs · fifthss · fiftsh · fiftths

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "faiths" for "fifths" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/feɪθs/ versus /fɪfθs/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary English text, does "faiths" or "fifths" show up more?
"faiths" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,371 in our English list, against #27,150 for "fifths". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "faiths" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fifths" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #182,792 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "faiths" and "fifths" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "faiths vs frith". 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 #182,792 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