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If you're hazy on faze, let us filter out the fuzz. Faze (not to be confused with phase) first appeared in English in the early 1800s with the same meaning we give it today: to disturb the composure of. Its appearance came centuries after the works of Shakespeare and Chaucer were penned, but both of those authors were familiar with the word's ancient parent, the now-rare verb feeze, which has been in use since the days of Old English (in the form fēsian), when it meant "to drive away" or "to put to flight." By the 1400s, it was also being used with the meaning "to frighten or put into a state of alarm," a sense close to that of the modern faze. While it is possible to use faze in constructions like "I felt fazed by the prospect of starting at a new school," it more often appears with negation, as in "it didn’t faze her a bit” or “nothing fazes him."
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Phase and Faze
Phase and faze are homophones (words pronounced alike but different in meaning, derivation, or spelling) that may easily be confused. Despite the similarity in pronunciation, these words bear little semantic resemblance to one another.
Although phase can function as a verb – it is found especially in combinations such as phase out, phase in, and phase into, meaning “to end, begin, etc. in phases” – the word is most commonly encountered as a noun, in which it typically carries a meaning related to steps in a process, cycles, or stages of development (as in “phases of the moon”).
Faze is generally used only as a verb, and means “to daunt or disconcert.” It often appears in negative expressions such as “it didn’t faze her a bit” or “nothing fazes him.”
Examples of faze in a Sentence
Gregg Evans, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2025
Kimmel, who has been engaged in a years-long feud with Trump, didn’t appear fazed by the president’s claim.
—Emlyn Travis Published, EW.com, 22 July 2025
With a group in Orlando vying for a major league franchise, the choice to move forward with a Jacksonville group did not faze the group fighting for Major League Baseball in Orlando.
—Hunter Mulholland, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 July 2025
Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images/Getty Images Brian Schottenheimer makes statement on Micah Parsons' future with Cowboys
Although things don't look great between Parsons and the Cowboys right now, Schottenheimer doesn't seem too fazed by the situation.
—Kevin McCormick, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for faze
Cite this Entry
“Faze.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/faze. Accessed 25 Aug. 2025.
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