Are you fazed by the phases of the moon? What about the phases of life? What about use of the term “unphased”?

As you’ve probably guessed, today we’re discussing the difference between the homophones faze and phase. We mostly use “phase” as a noun, as you see it used in the sentences above. But it's also a verb, as in, “The company plans to phase out use of fossil fuels.”

“Faze,” meanwhile, is a verb that means to disconcert or daunt. We don't use it as much as we use “phase,” though. So when some people write about being daunted by something, they'll misuse “phase” when they mean to write “faze.” You'll also see “unphased” when it should be “unfazed.”

“Faze vs. phase” is just one of the many commonly confused word pairs we cover in our style guide.

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