faze

/feɪz/

//feɪz// verb

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

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

The verdict

“faze” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #32,393. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#32,393
frequency rank, English
2,507
“F” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To frighten or cause hesitation; to daunt, put off (usually used in the negative); to disconcert, to perturb.

Corpus desk

Index EN-faze · faze · English

faze · rank #32,393 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #32,393
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,507
  • PHOTO-FINISH Falmouth

Nearest frequency peer: Falmouth (-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 “faze”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “faze” 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).

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)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “faze”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).fazelands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “Falmouth” (#32,392), “FBS” (#32,394), “FDI” (#32,395). Among 2,507 “F” headwords, “faze” is #32,393. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around faze (IPA /feɪz/), averb. Corpus frequency is #32,393 among 2,507 “F” headwords. Dominant gloss: "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.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how faze appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Jumping out of an airplane does not faze him, yet he is afraid to ride a roller coaster.
  2. But we're / Not getting anywhere. Nothing / fazes her.

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

effrayer(Français)abschrecken(Deutsch)amedrontar(Português)

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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "faze", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Evie#32,387FISA#32,399gila#32,414DotA#32,362

Similar misspelling depth

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

Chiu5 variantsLeela5 variantsmagi5 variantsBabel5 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list