face

/feɪs/

//feɪs// noun

"face" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“face” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #335. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#335
frequency rank, English
2,507
“F” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The front part of the head of a human or other animal, featuring the eyes, nose, and mouth, and the surrounding area.

Corpus desk

Index EN-face · face · English

face · rank #335 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #335
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,507
  • PHOTO-FINISH car

Nearest frequency peer: car (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “face”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “face” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

face vs Fe
25% similar
face vs far
50% similar
face vs fan
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for face
PropertyValue
Headwordface
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/feɪs/
Letters4
Frequency rank#335
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “face” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). face lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around face (IPA /feɪs/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #335 among 2,507 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 28 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for face, with forms such as "afce", "facce", and "faec". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Fe", "far", "fan", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-? Late Latin faciēs Late Latin facia Old French facebor. Middle English face English face From Middle English face, from Old French face, from Late Latin facia, from Latin faciēs (“form, appearance”). Doublet of fac… The correct English form is face, spelled F-A-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    The front part of the head of a human or other animal, featuring the eyes, nose, and mouth, and the surrounding area.
  2. 2
    One's facial expression.
  3. 3
    A distorted facial expression; an expression of displeasure, insult, etc.
  4. 4
    The amount expressed on a bill, note, bond, etc., without any interest or discount; face value.
  5. 5
    The mouth.
  6. 6
    Makeup; one's complete facial cosmetic application.
  7. 7
    Public image; outward appearance.
  8. 8
    Good reputation; standing, in the eyes of others; dignity; prestige.
  9. 9
    Shameless confidence; boldness; effrontery.
  10. 10
    An aspect of the character or nature of someone or something.
  11. 11
    Presence; sight; front.
  12. 12
    A person; the self; (reflexively) oneself.
  13. 13
    A familiar or well-known person; a member of a particular scene, such as the music or fashion scene.
  14. 14
    A headlining wrestler with a persona embodying heroic or virtuous traits and who is regarded as a "good guy", especially one who is handsome and well-conditioned; a baby face.
  15. 15
    The frontal aspect of something.
  16. 16
    The frontal aspect of something.
  17. 17
    The directed force of something.
  18. 18
    Any surface, especially a front or outer one.
  19. 19
    Any of the flat bounding surfaces of a polyhedron; more generally, any of the bounding pieces of a polytope of any dimension.
  20. 20
    The front surface of a bat.
  21. 21
    The part of a golf club that hits the ball.
  22. 22
    The head of a lion, shown face-on and cut off immediately behind the ears.
  23. 23
    The side of the card that shows its value (as opposed to the back side, which looks the same on all cards of the deck).
  24. 24
    The player character, especially as opposed to minions or other entities which might absorb damage instead of the player character.
  25. 25
    The width of a pulley, or the length of a cog from end to end.
  26. 26
    The exposed surface of the mineral deposit where it is being mined. Also the exposed end surface of a tunnel where digging may still be in progress.
  27. 27
    A typeface.
  28. 28
    A mode of regard, whether favourable or unfavourable; favour or anger.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how face appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. That girl has a pretty face.
  2. The monkey pressed its face against the railings.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-? Late Latin faciēs Late Latin facia Old French facebor. Middle English face English face From Middle English face, from Old French face, from Late Latin facia, from Latin faciēs (“form, appearance”). Doublet of facies. Displaced native onlete (“face, countenance, appearance”), anleth (“face”), from Old English anwlite, andwlita, compare German Antlitz; Old English ansīen (“face”), Middle English neb (“face, nose”) (from Old English nebb), Middle English ler, leor, leer (“face, cheek, countenance”) (from Old English hlēor), and non-native Middle English vis (“face, appearance, look”) (from Old French vis) and Middle English chere (“face”) from Old French chere. In the sense of face as in reputation, influenced by Chinese 面子 (miànzi) or 臉/脸 (liǎn), both of which mean literally the front of the head and metaphorically one's public image. See lose face.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • afce
  • facce
  • faec
  • fcae
  • fface

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of face - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

afce2facce1faec2fcae2fface1
Edit distance from "face"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "face"?
"face" is spelled F-A-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is /feɪs/.
What does "face" mean?
As a noun, "face" means: The front part of the head of a human or other animal, featuring the eyes, nose, and mouth, and the surrounding area.
What words are commonly confused with "face"?
"face" is commonly confused with "Fe", "far", "fan". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "face"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "face" is /feɪs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "face"?
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-? Late Latin faciēs Late Latin facia Old French facebor. Middle English face English face From Middle English face, from Old French face, from Late Latin facia, from Latin faciēs (“form, appearance”). Doub... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "face", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).

What to do next

You've looked up "face". Here's where to go from here.

  • "face" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "Fe". View pair
  • 5 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #335 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "F" letter cohort. F–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list