# fake

> English word · Adjective · IPA /feɪ̯k/ · frequency rank #2,251

## Definitions
1. Not real; false, fraudulent.
2. Insincere

## 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”).

## Easily confused with
- **Fe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fake-vs-fe)
- **far** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fake-vs-far)
- **fan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fake-vs-fan)
- **fat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fake-vs-fat)
- **fee** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fake-vs-fee)
- **fax** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fake-vs-fax)
- **fam** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fake-vs-fam)
- **foe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fake-vs-foe)
- **fay** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fake-vs-fay)
- **FAQ** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fake-vs-faq)
- **fas** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fake-vs-fas)
- **FAO** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fake-vs-fao)
- **fap** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fake-vs-fap)
- **fal** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fake-vs-fal)
- **FTE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fake-vs-fte)
- **fie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fake-vs-fie)
- **free** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fake-vs-free)
- **five** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fake-vs-five)
- **fire** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fake-vs-fire)
- **fine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fake-vs-fine)

## Common misspellings (5)
`afke`, `faek`, `fakke`, `ffake`, `fkae`

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