FSB vs fuse, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“FSB” is a name and “fuse” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#45,626
“FSB” frequency rank: #46,778
“fuse” frequency rank: 92404
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	FSB	fuse
Definition	Service de renseignement de la Russie chargé des affaires de sécurité intérieure, successeur du service de la sécurité intérieure du KGB.	Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent du verbe fuser.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set FSB and fuse apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

FSB

4 ch

fuse

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: FSB is \ɛf.ɛs.be\ while fuse is \fyz\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 92404, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

FSB is recorded at frequency rank #45,626, classified as aname, pronounced \ɛf.ɛs.be\. 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 92404, this pair ranks #3,021 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of FSB vs fuse

Shared letters: fs. Private to "FSB": b. Private to "fuse": eu.

"FSB" · 3 letters · shape CCC · "fuse" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

fuse ← ffuse · fsue · fues · fusse · ufse

Frequency comparison

FSB#45,626

fuse#46,778

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "FSB" and "fuse" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "FSB" is a name and "fuse" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "FSB" or "fuse"?

"FSB" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #45,626 in our French list, against #46,778 for "fuse". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering FSB vs fuse

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a name, it's “FSB”; for a verb, it's “fuse”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “FSB” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable