fake
/feɪ̯k/
"fake" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“fake” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,251. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #2,251
- frequency rank, English
- 2,507
- “F” headwords
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - Not real; false, fraudulent.
Corpus desk
Index EN-fake · fake · English
fake · rank #2,251 · 5 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #2,251
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 5 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,507
- PHOTO-FINISH equal
Nearest frequency peer: equal (-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 “fake”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- cook
cook
97,753 corpus weight
- cute
cute
97,752 corpus weight
- equal
equal
97,751 corpus weight
- fake
fake
97,750 corpus weight
- finance
finance
97,749 corpus weight
- focused
focused
97,748 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “fake” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | fake |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /feɪ̯k/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #2,251 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “fake” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 5 spelling variants around fake (IPA /feɪ̯k/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #2,251 among 2,507 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for fake, with forms such as "afke", "faek", and "fakke". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. 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: The origin is not known with certainty, although first attested in 1775 C.E. in British criminals' slang. It is probably from feak, feague (“to give a better appearance through artificial means, spruce up, embellish”), itself from German Low German fegen, f… The correct English form is fake, spelled F-A-K-E.
Definition
- 1Not real; false, fraudulent.
- 2Insincere
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how fake appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Which fur coat looks fake?
Seeing Rossano Brazzi play an aristocratic White Russian, standing in the fakest snow that wartime supplies could buy, may be the most peculiar twist of all in the curious story of how Ayn Rand's autobiographical first novel came to the screen.
Etymology
The origin is not known with certainty, although first attested in 1775 C.E. in British criminals' slang. It is probably from feak, feague (“to give a better appearance through artificial means, spruce up, embellish”), itself from German Low German fegen, from Middle Low German vēgen, from Old Saxon fegōn, from Proto-West Germanic *fegōn (“to clean up, polish”). Akin to Dutch veeg (“a swipe”), Dutch vegen (“to sweep, wipe”); German fegen (“to sweep, to polish”). Compare also Old English fācn (“deceit, fraud”). Perhaps related also to Old Norse fjúka (“to fade, vanquish, disappear”), Old Norse feikn (“strange, scary, unnatural”).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- afke
- faek
- fakke
- ffake
- fkae
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of fake - 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.
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 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "fake", 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).
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.