Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

fad

/fæd/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.26 in modern English

Syllables: fad
IPA: /fæd/

7

Scrabble Score

3

Letters

1

Syllables

3

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A phenomenon that becomes popular for a very short time.

noun

Initialism of flavin adenine dinucleotide.

Uncountable

Example Sentences

"You're a fad, that means you're something that we've already had, but once you're gone, you don't come back."
"The pet rock fad was started by an advertising executive named Gary Dahl. The premise was simple: take ordinary rocks, glue eyes on them, and market them as pets."

Etymology

Of English dialectal origin. Further origin obscure. Possibly from Old English ġefæd (“order, decorum”) (compare Old English ġefæd (“orderly, tidy”), fadian, ġefadian (“to set in order, arrange”), whence Middle English faden (“to arrange”)); or from French fadaise ("a trifling thought"; see fadaise).

Origin

Source language: Old English

Word Breakdown

Root: gefæd, fadaise

Usage

Uncountable

Inflected Forms

fads (plural)

Derived Forms

faddery faddish faddism faddist faddy fadish fadlike fadmonger

Phrases

fad diet

Frequently Paired Words

craze trend FMN

Synonyms

craze furor furore cult rage

Rhymes With

had bad add dad glad sad ad mad brad pad chad lad

Questions

How do you pronounce fad?: The recorded pronunciation is /fæd/.
What does fad mean?: A phenomenon that becomes popular for a very short time.
Where does fad come from?: It is traced to Old English.

How to pronounce fad

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “fad”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/fæd/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “fad”.
Repeat and practice — Say “fad” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.