faze

/feɪz/

//feɪz// verb

"faze" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“faze” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #32,393 in English word frequency and used as a verb.

#32,393
frequency rank, English
4
letters
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To frighten or cause hesitation; to daunt, put off (usually used in the negative); to disconcert, to perturb.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

faze vs Fe
25% similar
faze vs fee
50% similar
faze vs foe
50% similar

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

Key facts for faze
PropertyValue
Headwordfaze
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/feɪz/
Letters4
Frequency rank#32,393
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “faze” sits in English frequency

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for faze is 4 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /feɪz/. Corpus data places it at rank #32,393 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "To frighten or cause hesitation; to daunt, put off (usually used in the negative); to disconcert, to perturb.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for faze, with forms such as "afze", "faez", and "fazze". 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", "fee", "foe", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From English dialectal (Kentish) feeze, feese (“to alarm, discomfit, frighten”), from Middle English fēsen (“to chase, drive away; put to flight; discomfit, frighten, terrify”), from Old English fēsan, fȳsan (“to send forth; to hasten, impel, stimulate; to … The correct English form is faze, spelled F-A-Z-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To frighten or cause hesitation; to daunt, put off (usually used in the negative); to disconcert, to perturb.

Etymology

From English dialectal (Kentish) feeze, feese (“to alarm, discomfit, frighten”), from Middle English fēsen (“to chase, drive away; put to flight; discomfit, frighten, terrify”), from Old English fēsan, fȳsan (“to send forth; to hasten, impel, stimulate; to banish, drive away, put to flight; to prepare oneself”), from Proto-West Germanic *funsijan, from Proto-Germanic *funsijaną (“to predispose, make favourable; to make ready”), from Proto-Indo-European *pent- (“to go; to walk”). The word is cognate with Old Saxon fūsian (“to strive”), Old Norse fýsa (“to drive, goad; to admonish”). Citations for faze in the Oxford English Dictionary start in 1830, and usage was established by 1890.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: afze,faez,fazze,ffaze,fzae

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of faze - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

afze2faez2fazze1ffaze1fzae2
Edit distance from "faze"

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 "faze"?
"faze" is spelled F-A-Z-E. The IPA pronunciation is /feɪz/.
What does "faze" mean?
As a verb, "faze" means: To frighten or cause hesitation; to daunt, put off (usually used in the negative); to disconcert, to perturb.
What words are commonly confused with "faze"?
"faze" is commonly confused with "Fe", "fee", "foe". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "faze"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "faze" is /feɪz/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "faze"?
From English dialectal (Kentish) feeze, feese (“to alarm, discomfit, frighten”), from Middle English fēsen (“to chase, drive away; put to flight; discomfit, frighten, terrify”), from Old English fēsan, fȳsan (“to send forth; to hasten, impel, stim... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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.

Using “faze”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is F-A-Z-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /feɪz/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “Fe” - see the side-by-side comparison. faze vs Fe
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list