fiebrevsfúnebreWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: fiebre is a noun, fúnebre is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“fiebre” is a noun and “fúnebre” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,602
“fiebre” frequency rank
#21,345
“fúnebre” frequency rank
25947
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fiebre fúnebre
Definition Fenómeno patológico que ordinariamente se manifiesta por elevación de la temperatura normal del cuerpo y frecuencia del pulso y la respiración. Que pertenece o concierne a los difuntos, o a sus exequias.

Where the eye mixes fiebre and fúnebre

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
fiebre
7 ch
fúnebre

Visual trap between fiebre and fúnebre

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fiebre is [ˈfjeβ̞ɾe] while fúnebre is [ˈfuneβ̞ɾe]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25947, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fiebre is recorded at frequency rank #4,602, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfjeβ̞ɾe]. fúnebre is at rank #21,345, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfuneβ̞ɾe].

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 25947, this pair ranks #234,044 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fiebre vs fúnebre

Shared letters: befr. Private to "fiebre": i. Private to "fúnebre": .

"fiebre" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "fúnebre" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fiebrefeibre · ffiebre · fibere · fiebbre · fieber · fiebrre · fierbe · fievre

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fiebre" and "fúnebre" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fiebre" is a noun and "fúnebre" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "fiebre" or "fúnebre" show up more?
"fiebre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,602 in our Spanish list, against #21,345 for "fúnebre". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "fiebre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fúnebre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #234,044 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fiebre" and "fúnebre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fúnebre vs fúnebres". 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 #234,044 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list