Fazes

Fazes is the third-person singular present tense of the verb faze, meaning to disturb, disconcert, or perturb someone. The word is used transitively, as in not faze someone by surprising them with unexpected news. In everyday language, the phrase not fazed (or unfazed) is common to describe someone who remains calm or undisturbed in the face of disturbance.

Usage and forms:

- Transitive usage: The sudden noise did not faze her.

- Not fazed/unfazed: Not fazed or unfazed are common ways to express composure; unfazed is the more standard modern spelling when used as an adjective.

- Tense and participles: past tense is fazed; present participle is fazing.

Etymology:

The etymology of faze is uncertain. The word appears in English usage in the early modern period (17th or 18th centuries), but a definitive origin has not been established. Some theories point to possible Scots or Germanic influences, but there is no consensus.

Usage notes:

Faze is more common in informal or narrative prose; in formal writing, writers may substitute synonyms such as disturb, perturb, or unsettle. The term is typically used to describe external stimuli affecting a person’s composure rather than intrinsic feelings.

Related terms:

- Fazed (past tense and past participle)

- Fazing (present participle)

- Unfazed (adjective meaning not perturbed)

While fazes primarily functions as a verb form, there is no widely recognized noun form of the word.