Which to use
“fake” is an adjective and “fuse” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,854
- “fake” frequency rank
- #46,778
- “fuse” frequency rank
- 55632
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fake | fuse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Faux. | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent du verbe fuser. |
Where the eye mixes fake and fuse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses fake with fuse
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fake is \fɛk\ while fuse is \fyz\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55632, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fake is recorded at frequency rank #8,854, classified as anadj, pronounced \fɛk\. fuse is at rank #46,778, tagged as averb, pronounced \fyz\.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 55632, this pair ranks #126,216 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fake vs fuse
Shared letters: ef. Private to "fake": ak. Private to "fuse": su.
"fake" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "fuse" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fake" for "fuse" ever safe?
Which is more common, "fake" or "fuse"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fake" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fuse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #126,216 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fake" and "fuse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fee vs fuse". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #126,216 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.