Which to use
“fast” and “fit” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #767
- “fast” frequency rank
- #1,185
- “fit” frequency rank
- 1952
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fast | fit |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Firmly or securely fixed in place; stable. | Suitable; proper |
Where the eye mixes fast and fit
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. fast (/fɑːst/) and fit (/fɪt/) 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 1952, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fast is recorded at frequency rank #767, classified as anadj, pronounced /fɑːst/. fit is at rank #1,185, tagged as anadj, pronounced /fɪt/.
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 1952, this pair ranks #526,217 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fast vs fit
Shared letters: ft. Private to "fast": as. Private to "fit": i.
"fast" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "fit" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- fast ← afst · fasst · fastt · ffast · fsat