FellvsFeteTell them apart

Which to use

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

#8,708
“Fell” frequency rank
#44,598
“Fete” frequency rank
53306
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Fell Fete
Definition die behaarte Haut eines Tieres lockere, ungezwungene Feier

Where the eye mixes Fell and Fete

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Fell
4 ch
Fete

Why the eye confuses Fell with Fete

A purely visual mix-up. Fell ([fɛl]) 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 53306, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Fell is recorded at frequency rank #8,708, classified as anoun, pronounced [fɛl]. 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 53306, this pair ranks #1,063,168 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Fell vs Fete

Shared letters: ef. Private to "Fell": l. Private to "Fete": t.

"Fell" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Fete" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Fellefll · fel · ffell · flel
  • Feteefte · ffete · ftee

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Fell" and "Fete" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fɛl] versus [ˈfeːtə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Fell" or "Fete"?
"Fell" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,708 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.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Fell" 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 #1,063,168 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Fell" 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 #1,063,168 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