# fair

> English word · Adjective · IPA /fɛə/ · frequency rank #1,104

## Definitions
1. Beautiful, of a pleasing appearance, with a pure and fresh quality.
2. Unblemished (figuratively or literally); clean and pure; innocent.
3. Light in color, pale, particularly with regard to skin tone but also referring to blond and red hair.
4. Just.
5. Adequate, reasonable, or decent, but not excellent.
6. Favorable to a ship's course.
7. Favorable, pleasant.
8. Favorable, pleasant.
9. Favorable, pleasant.
10. Without sudden change of direction or curvature; smooth; flowing; said of the figure of a vessel, and of surfaces, water lines, and other lines.
11. Between the baselines.
12. Taken direct from an opponent's foot, without the ball touching the ground or another player.
13. Not a no ball.
14. Of a coin or die, having equal chance of landing on any side, unbiased.

## Etymology
From Middle English fayr, feir, fager, from Old English fæġer (“beautiful”), from Proto-West Germanic *fagr, from Proto-Germanic *fagraz (“suitable, fitting, nice”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- (“to fasten, place”).
Cognate with Scots fayr, fare (“fair”), Danish feir, faver, fager (“fair, pretty”), Norwegian fager (“fair, pretty”), Swedish fager (“fair, pretty”), Icelandic fagur (“beautiful, fair”), Umbrian pacer (“gracious, merciful, kind”), Slovak pekný (“good-looking, handsome, nice”). See also peace.

## Easily confused with
- **fi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fair-vs-fi)
- **for** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fair-vs-for)
- **far** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fair-vs-far)
- **fit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fair-vs-fit)
- **fan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fair-vs-fan)
- **fat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fair-vs-fat)
- **fix** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fair-vs-fix)
- **FBI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fair-vs-fbi)
- **fig** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fair-vs-fig)
- **fur** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fair-vs-fur)
- **fin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fair-vs-fin)
- **fax** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fair-vs-fax)
- **fam** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fair-vs-fam)
- **FYI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fair-vs-fyi)
- **fir** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fair-vs-fir)
- **fil** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fair-vs-fil)
- **fay** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fair-vs-fay)
- **FAQ** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fair-vs-faq)
- **FEI** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fair-vs-fei)
- **FDR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fair-vs-fdr)

## Common misspellings (5)
`afir`, `fairr`, `fari`, `ffair`, `fiar`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/fair