Which to use
“fast” and “fat” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #767
- “fast” frequency rank
- #1,482
- “fat” frequency rank
- 2249
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fast | fat |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Firmly or securely fixed in place; stable. | Carrying more fat than usual on one's body; plump; not lean or thin. |
Where the eye mixes fast and fat
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. fast (/fɑːst/) and fat (/ˈfæt/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2249, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fast is recorded at frequency rank #767, classified as anadj, pronounced /fɑːst/. fat is at rank #1,482, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈfæt/.
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 2249, this pair ranks #525,472 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fast vs fat
Shared letters: aft. Private to "fast": s. Private to "fat": -.
"fast" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "fat" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- fast ← afst · fasst · fastt · ffast · fsat