fathers

/ˈfɑː.ðəz/

//ˈfɑː.ðəz// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"fathers" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“fathers” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #6,243. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#6,243
frequency rank, English
2,507
“F” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
7
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - plural of father

Corpus desk

Index EN-fathers · fathers · English

fathers · rank #6,243 · 11 variants · 7 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,243
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 7 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,507
  • PHOTO-FINISH fairy

Nearest frequency peer: fairy (-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 “fathers”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “fathers” 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).

fathers vs fatter
71% similar
fathers vs feather
71% similar
fathers vs Fates
57% similar

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

Key facts for fathers
PropertyValue
Headwordfathers
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈfɑː.ðəz/
Letters7
Frequency rank#6,243
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs7
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “fathers”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).fatherslands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “fairy” (#6,242), “focuses” (#6,244), “fabulous” (#6,241). Among 2,507 “F” headwords, “fathers” is #6,243. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around fathers (IPA /ˈfɑː.ðəz/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #6,243 among 2,507 “F” headwords. Dominant gloss: "plural of father".

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for fathers, with forms such as "afthers", "fahters", and "fatehrs". 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 7 confusable-pair relationships, "fatter", "feather", "Fates", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct English form is fathers, spelled F-A-T-H-E-R-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    plural of father

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • afthers
  • fahters
  • fatehrs
  • fatherrs
  • fatherss
  • fathesr
  • fathhers
  • fathres
  • fatthers
  • ffathers
  • ftahers

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of fathers - 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.

afthers2fahters2fatehrs2fatherrs1fatherss1fathesr2fathhers1fathres2
Edit distance from "fathers"

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 "fathers"?
"fathers" is spelled F-A-T-H-E-R-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈfɑː.ðəz/.
What does "fathers" mean?
As a noun, "fathers" means: plural of father
What words are commonly confused with "fathers"?
"fathers" is commonly confused with "fatter", "feather", "Fates". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "fathers"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "fathers" is /ˈfɑː.ðəz/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "fathers" come from?
"fathers" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 "fathers", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

focuses#6,244console#6,227lacking#6,260cartoon#6,221

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

fabulous11 variantsglorious11 variantsdiameter11 variantspockets11 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list