fâchéevsfâcheuxWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“fâchée” and “fâcheux” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#27,452
“fâchée” frequency rank
#28,568
“fâcheux” frequency rank
56020
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fâchée fâcheux
Definition Féminin singulier de fâché. Qui donne du déplaisir ou de la peine.

Where the eye mixes fâchée and fâcheux

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. fâchée runs 6 letters (CVCCVV) against fâcheux's 7 (CVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
fâchée
7 ch
fâcheux

Look-alike desk: fâchée vs fâcheux

A purely visual mix-up. fâchée (\fɑ.ʃe\) and fâcheux (\fɑ.ʃø\) 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 56020, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fâchée is recorded at frequency rank #27,452, classified as anadj, pronounced \fɑ.ʃe\. fâcheux is at rank #28,568, tagged as anadj, pronounced \fɑ.ʃø\.

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 56020, this pair ranks #123,729 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fâchée vs fâcheux

Shared letters: cefhâ. Private to "fâchée": é. Private to "fâcheux": ux.

"fâchée" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "fâcheux" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "fâchée" and "fâcheux" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\fɑ.ʃe\ versus \fɑ.ʃø\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "fâchée" vs "fâcheux" - which ranks higher?
"fâchée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,452 in our French list, against #28,568 for "fâcheux". 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 "fâchée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fâcheux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #123,729 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fâchée" and "fâcheux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fâchée vs fauche". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #123,729 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list