face

\fas\

/\fas\/ noun

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

The verdict

“face” is in the everyday core of French, ranked #311 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#311
frequency rank, French
4
letters
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Visage.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

face vs FC
0% similar
face vs fe
50% similar
face vs fan
50% similar

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

Key facts for face
PropertyValue
Headwordface
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\fas\
Letters4
Frequency rank#311
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “face” sits in French 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). face 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 French entry for face is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \fas\. Corpus data places it at rank #311 in overall French word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 16 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for face, with forms such as "afce", "facce", and "faec". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "FC", "fe", "fan", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is face, spelled F-A-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Visage.
  2. 2
    Figure humaine.
  3. 3
    La partie antérieure de la tête.
  4. 4
    Le côté d’une pièce de monnaie où est empreinte la figure , à l'opposé du côté pile.
  5. 5
    Mesure qui sert à déterminer les proportions du corps humain, et qui est égale à la longueur du visage.
  6. 6
    Superficie, en parlant des choses.
  7. 7
    Hémisphère visible ou non visible d'un astre pour un observateur.
  8. 8
    Les diverses portions de surface plane qui terminent un solide.
  9. 9
    Chacune des parties qui composent la superficie d’un organe.
  10. 10
    Chacun des différentes parties extérieures ou des différents aspects d’un objet placé de diverses façons ou vu de divers côtés.
  11. 11
    Le devant d’un édifice ou d’une de ses parties considérables.
  12. 12
    Chacune des bandes dont est composée l’architrave.
  13. 13
    Chacun des deux côtés qui sont entre les flancs et la pointe d’un bastion.
  14. 14
    État ou situation des affaires.
  15. 15
    Un des divers aspects ou des divers points de vue sous lequel une chose, une affaire peut être examinée, considérée.
  16. 16
    Boucle de cheveux qui couvre les oreilles.

This word in other languages

face(English)cara(Español)Gesicht(Deutsch)face(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: afce,facce,faec,fcae,fface

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of face - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

afce2facce1faec2fcae2fface1
Edit distance from "face"

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 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "face"?
"face" is spelled F-A-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is \fas\.
What does "face" mean?
As a noun, "face" means: Visage.
What words are commonly confused with "face"?
"face" is commonly confused with "FC", "fe", "fan". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "face"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "face" is \fas\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "face" come from?
"face" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 “face”

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

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