Which to use
“fete” and “feud” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #42,639
- “fete” frequency rank
- #12,598
- “feud” frequency rank
- 55237
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fete | feud |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A festival open to the public, the proceeds from which are often given to charity. | A state of long-standing mutual hostility. |
Where the eye mixes fete and feud
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. fete (CVCV) and feud (CVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between fete and feud
A purely visual mix-up. fete (/feɪt/) and feud (/fjuːd/) 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 55237, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fete is recorded at frequency rank #42,639, classified as anoun, pronounced /feɪt/. feud is at rank #12,598, tagged as anoun, pronounced /fjuːd/.
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 55237, this pair ranks #135,107 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fete vs feud
Shared letters: ef. Private to "fete": t. Private to "feud": du.
"fete" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "feud" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fete" for "feud" ever safe?
Which is more common, "fete" or "feud"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "fete" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "feud" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #135,107 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fete" and "feud" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fenn 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 #135,107 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.