fearvsFeteWhat's the difference?

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 spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fear and Fete apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
fear
4 ch
Fete

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

  • fearefar · faer · fearr · fera · ffear
  • Feteefte · ffete · ftee

Frequency comparison

fear#29,122
Fete#44,598

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fear" and "Fete" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([fɪə] versus [ˈfeːtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fear" or "Fete"?
"fear" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,122 in our German list, against #44,598 for "Fete". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fear vs Fete

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fear” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list