faerie

noun

"faerie" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“faerie” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #40,691. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#40,691
frequency rank, English
2,507
“F” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
9
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Archaic spelling of fairy.

Corpus desk

Index EN-faerie · faerie · English

faerie · rank #40,691 · 7 variants · 9 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #40,691
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 9 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,507
  • PHOTO-FINISH extractor

Nearest frequency peer: extractor (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “faerie”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “faerie” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

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).

faerie vs fare
67% similar
faerie vs farce
67% similar
faerie vs Favre
50% similar

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

Key facts for faerie
PropertyValue
Headwordfaerie
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters6
Frequency rank#40,691
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs9
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “faerie”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).faerielands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “extractor” (#40,690), “faulted” (#40,692), “expandable” (#40,689). Among 2,507 “F” headwords, “faerie” is #40,691. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around faerie, anoun. Corpus frequency is #40,691 among 2,507 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for faerie, with forms such as "aferie", "faeire", and "faerei". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 9 confusable-pair relationships, "fare", "farce", "Favre", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: A deliberately archaic spelling of fairy (attested since the 1300s in spellings like fairye, fayre), based on Old French faerie, used in 1590 by Edmund Spenser in The Faerie Queene. The correct English form is faerie, spelled F-A-E-R-I-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Archaic spelling of fairy.
  2. 2
    Realm of the fays, fairyland.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. All these stories are based upon the classic structure of the faerie tale and are highly enjoyable (and, yes, they end "happily ever after"). But they can provide much more than that.

Etymology

A deliberately archaic spelling of fairy (attested since the 1300s in spellings like fairye, fayre), based on Old French faerie, used in 1590 by Edmund Spenser in The Faerie Queene.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • aferie
  • faeire
  • faerei
  • faerrie
  • fareie
  • fearie
  • ffaerie

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of faerie - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

aferie2faeire2faerei2faerrie1fareie2fearie2ffaerie1
Edit distance from "faerie"

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "faerie"?
"faerie" is spelled F-A-E-R-I-E.
What does "faerie" mean?
As a noun, "faerie" means: Archaic spelling of fairy.
What words are commonly confused with "faerie"?
"faerie" is commonly confused with "fare", "farce", "Favre". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What is the origin of the word "faerie"?
A deliberately archaic spelling of fairy (attested since the 1300s in spellings like fairye, fayre), based on Old French faerie, used in 1590 by Edmund Spenser in The Faerie Queene. 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 "faerie", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list