Which to use
“fesse” and “fosses” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,625
- “fesse” frequency rank
- #16,882
- “fosses” frequency rank
- 38507
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fesse | fosses |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Chacune des deux masses charnues situées à la partie postérieure du bassin, chez l’être humain et certains mammifères. | Pluriel de fosse. |
Where the eye mixes fesse and fosses
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fesse runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against fosses's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses fesse with fosses
A purely visual mix-up. fesse (\fɛs\) and fosses (\fos\) 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 38507, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fesse is recorded at frequency rank #21,625, classified as anoun, pronounced \fɛs\. fosses is at rank #16,882, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fos\.
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 38507, this pair ranks #254,792 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fesse vs fosses
Shared letters: efs. Private to "fesse": -. Private to "fosses": o.
"fesse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "fosses" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fesse" for "fosses" ever safe?
Frequency check: "fesse" vs "fosses" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "fesse" and "fosses" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "fesse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fosses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #254,792 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fesse" and "fosses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fee vs fesse". 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 #254,792 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.