Which to use
“fas” is a noun and “fess” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,454
- “fas” frequency rank
- #43,640
- “fess” frequency rank
- 71094
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fas | fess |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A border or fringe. | To confess; to admit. |
Letter map: fas vs fess
Shared letters muted; letters that set fas and fess apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. fas runs 3 letters (CVC) against fess's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Grammar separator: fas vs fess
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: fas is anoun and fessaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71094, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fas is recorded at frequency rank #27,454, classified as anoun. fess is at rank #43,640, tagged as averb, pronounced /fɛs/.
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 71094, this pair ranks #48,017 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fas vs fess
Shared letters: fs. Private to "fas": a. Private to "fess": e.
"fas" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "fess" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- fess ← efss · ffess · fses
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fas" and "fess" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "fas" or "fess"?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "fas" and "fess".
- Full dictionary entry for "fas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fess" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #48,017 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fas" and "fess" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fenn vs fess". 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 #48,017 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.