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PlainSpell

fade

/feɪd/noun, verb

fade is spelled F-A-D-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 7.2 times per million words in written English, the 8,784th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, fade means “A golf shot that curves intentionally to the player's right (if they are right-handed) or to the left (if left-handed)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of fade is fades.

How many letters and syllables are in fade?

Letters4: F-A-D-E
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing7.2 times per million words; the 8,784th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is fade?

Fade appears 7.2 times per million words in written English, the 8,784th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce fade?

  • US /feɪd/
  • Australia /fæɪd/

Fade has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-fade.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with fade?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as fade from its last stressed vowel (/eɪd/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: deaf.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of fade

  • fader comparative
  • fadest superlative
  • fades plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • fading participle, present
  • faded participle, past
  • more fade comparative
  • most fade superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does fade mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A golf shot that curves intentionally to the player's right (if they are right-handed) or to the left (if left-handed).

  2. 2

    A haircut where the hair is short or shaved on the sides of the head and longer on top. See also high-top fade and low fade.

  3. 3

    slangA fight.

  4. 4

    A gradual decrease in the brightness of a shot or the volume of sound or music (as a means of cutting to a new scene or starting a new song).

  5. 5

    slangThe act of disappearing from a place so as not to be found; covert departure.

verb

  1. 1

    To hit the ball with the shot called a fade.

  2. 2

    To grow weak; to lose strength; to decay; to perish gradually; to wither, as a plant.

  3. 3

    To lose freshness, color, or brightness; to become faint in hue or tint; hence, to be wanting in color.

  4. 4

    To sink away; to disappear gradually; to grow dim; to vanish.

    The milkman's whistling faded into the distance.

  5. 5

    To cause to fade.

  6. 6

    To bet against (someone).

adjective

  1. 1

    archaicWeak; insipid; tasteless.

  2. 2

    archaicStrong; bold; doughty.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Fade in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchfade (tasteless), s'affadir, faner, flétrir, dépérir (to grow weak, lose strength), s'estomper (to lose freshness, brightness)
Spanishinsulso, desabrido, soso (tasteless), desvanecimiento, corte degradado, fade (haircut)
Germanverwelken (to grow weak, lose strength), verblassen (to lose freshness, brightness)
Portuguesedesfalecer, estiolar (to grow weak, lose strength), desbotar (to lose freshness, brightness), desaparecer (to vanish)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does fade come from?

From Middle English fade, vad, vade (“faded, pale, withered, weak”), from Middle Dutch vade (“weak, faint, limp”), from Old French fade (“weak, witless”), of obscure origin. Probably from Vulgar Latin *fatidus, from Latin fatuus (“insipid”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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