fair
/ˈfɛə/adjective, noun, verb, adverb
fair is spelled F-A-I-R: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 98 times per million words in written English, the 1,112th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “fair vs fare” about 9,900 times a month (Google, United States). As an adjective, fair means “Unblemished (figuratively or literally); clean and pure; innocent” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in fair?
| Letters | 4: F-A-I-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 98 times per million words; the 1,112th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is fair?
Fair appears 98 times per million words in written English, the 1,112th 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 fair?
- UK /ˈfɛə/
- UK [ˈfɛə̯]
- UK [ˈfɛː]
Fair has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-fair.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-fair.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with fair
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: fare (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with fair?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as fair from its last stressed vowel (/ɛə/, British pronunciation):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: fiar.
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 fair
- fairer comparative
- fairest superlative
- fairs present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- fairing participle, present
- faired participle, past
- more fair comparative
- most fair superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does fair mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
archaicBeautiful, of a pleasing appearance, with a pure and fresh quality.
Monday's child is fair of face.
- 2
Unblemished (figuratively or literally); clean and pure; innocent.
one's fair name
- 3
Light in color, pale, particularly with regard to skin tone but also referring to blond and red hair.
She had fair hair and blue eyes.
- 4
Just.
He must be given a fair trial.
- 5
Adequate, reasonable, or decent, but not excellent.
Their performance has been only fair.
- 6
Favorable to a ship's course.
- 7
Favorable, pleasant.
The weather was fair today.
- 8
Not overcast; cloudless; clear.
a fair sky
noun
- 1
Something which is fair (in various senses of the adjective).
When will we learn to distinguish between the fair and the foul?
- 2
obsoleteA woman, a member of the ‘fair sex’; also as a collective singular, women.
- 3
obsoleteFairness, beauty.
- 4
A fair woman; a sweetheart.
- 5
obsoleteGood fortune; good luck.
- 6
A community gathering to celebrate and exhibit local achievements.
- 7
An event for public entertainment and trade, a market.
- 8
An event for professionals in a trade to learn of new products and do business, a trade fair.
- 9
A travelling amusement park (called a funfair in British English and a (travelling) carnival in US English).
The whole town was at the fair, young and old, rich and poor.
verb
- 1
To smoothen or even a surface (especially a connection or junction on a surface).
- 2
To bring into perfect alignment (especially about rivet holes when connecting structural members).
- 3
To make an animation smooth, removing any jerkiness.
- 4
To construct or design with the aim of producing a smooth outline or reducing air drag or water resistance.
- 5
obsoleteTo make fair or beautiful.
- 6
To become fair (favorable, not stormy).
adverb
- 1
Clearly, openly, frankly, civilly, honestly, favorably, auspiciously, agreeably.
- 2
IrelandAlmost; to a great extent but not literally.
noun
- 1
Acronym of findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability, a set of principles for data management.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Fair in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | beau, belle, joli , innocent , blond, clair |
| German | schön, wunderbar , hell, hellhäutig, blond , fair |
| Portuguese | belo, formoso, bonito , inocente , claro , honesto |
| Spanish | bello , inocente , pastel , justo, equitativo, ecuánime |
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 fair come from?
From Middle English fayr, from Old English fæġer (“beautiful”), from Proto-West Germanic *fagr, from Proto-Germanic *fagraz (“appropriate, fitting, nice, suitable”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- (“to attach, join; agreement, settlement”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).