feinevsfixeConfusable pair

Which to use

“feine” and “fixe” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#5,261
“feine” frequency rank
#25,128
“fixe” frequency rank
30389
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature feine fixe
Definition Nominativ Singular Femininum Positiv der starken Flexion des Adjektivs fein Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs fix

Where the eye mixes feine and fixe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
feine
4 ch
fixe

Look-alike desk: feine vs fixe

A purely visual mix-up. feine ([ˈfaɪ̯nə]) and fixe ([ˈfɪksə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30389, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

feine is recorded at frequency rank #5,261, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfaɪ̯nə]. fixe is at rank #25,128, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfɪksə].

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 30389, this pair ranks #1,748,870 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of feine vs fixe

Shared letters: efi. Private to "feine": n. Private to "fixe": x.

"feine" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "fixe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • feineefine · feien · feinne · fenie · ffeine · fiene
  • fixeffixe · fiex · fixxe · fxie · ifxe

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "feine" for "fixe" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfaɪ̯nə] versus [ˈfɪksə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "feine" vs "fixe" - which ranks higher?
"feine" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,261 in our German list, against #25,128 for "fixe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "feine" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fixe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,748,870 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "feine" and "fixe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fist vs fixe". 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 #1,748,870 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list