Which to use
“fœtus” and “fêtes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,296
- “fœtus” frequency rank
- #2,929
- “fêtes” frequency rank
- 22225
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fœtus | fêtes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Organisme en voie de développement, chez les animaux vivipares. Il a dépassé le stade d’embryon mais n’est pas encore né. | Pluriel de fête. |
Where the eye mixes fœtus and fêtes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between fœtus and fêtes
A purely visual mix-up. fœtus (\fe.tys\) and fêtes (\fɛt\) 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 22225, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fœtus is recorded at frequency rank #19,296, classified as anoun, pronounced \fe.tys\. fêtes is at rank #2,929, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fɛt\.
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 22225, this pair ranks #359,181 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fœtus vs fêtes
Shared letters: fst. Private to "fœtus": uœ. Private to "fêtes": eê.
"fœtus" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "fêtes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fœtus" and "fêtes" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "fœtus" or "fêtes" show up more?
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 "fœtus" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fêtes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #359,181 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fœtus" and "fêtes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fee vs fêtes". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #359,181 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.