foist
/fɔɪst/
"foist" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“foist” is uncommon English (frequency #80,459 among 2,507 “F” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #80,459
- frequency rank, English
- 2,507
- “F” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To introduce or insert surreptitiously or without warrant.
Corpus desk
Index EN-foist · foist · English
foist · rank #80,459 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #80,459
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,507
- PHOTO-FINISH foliar
Nearest frequency peer: foliar (+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.
Long-tail ranks near “foist”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- FHE
FHE
19,548 corpus weight
- figuration
figuration
19,547 corpus weight
- Fitzmaurice
Fitzmaurice
19,545 corpus weight
- foist
foist
19,542 corpus weight
- foliar
foliar
19,541 corpus weight
- franked
franked
19,537 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “foist” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | foist |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /fɔɪst/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #80,459 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “foist” in English
Rare enough to double-check
foist is uncommon English at frequency #80,459 among 2,507 “F” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /fɔɪst/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for foist in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: Probably from archaic Dutch vuisten (“to take into one’s hand”), from Middle Dutch vuysten, from vuyst (“fist”); akin to Old English fyst (“fist”). The correct English form is foist, spelled F-O-I-S-T.
Definition
- 1To introduce or insert surreptitiously or without warrant.
- 2To force another to accept especially by stealth or deceit; to stick.
- 3To pass off as genuine or worthy.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how foist appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
But apart from this, it is difficult for a man like Watt to tell a long story like Watt's without leaving out some things, and foisting in others.
the Tale of Zayn al-Asnám is one of two which Galland repudiated, as having been foisted into his 8th volume without his knowledge
Etymology
Probably from archaic Dutch vuisten (“to take into one’s hand”), from Middle Dutch vuysten, from vuyst (“fist”); akin to Old English fyst (“fist”).
This word in other languages
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "foist", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).