Which to use
“fear” and “Fete” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,122
- “fear” frequency rank
- #44,598
- “Fete” frequency rank
- 73720
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fear | Fete |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (die Emotion) Furcht | lockere, ungezwungene Feier |
Where the eye mixes fear and Fete
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. fear (CVVC) and Fete (CVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses fear with Fete
A purely visual mix-up. fear ([fɪə]) and Fete ([ˈfeːtə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73720, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fear is recorded at frequency rank #29,122, classified as anoun, pronounced [fɪə]. Fete is at rank #44,598, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfeːtə].
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 73720, this pair ranks #352,665 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fear vs Fete
Shared letters: ef. Private to "fear": ar. Private to "Fete": t.
"fear" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "Fete" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fear" for "Fete" ever safe?
Frequency check: "fear" vs "Fete" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "fear" and "Fete" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "fear" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Fete" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #352,665 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fear" and "Fete" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Felge vs Fete". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #352,665 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.