Which to use
“fessée” and “fesses” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,551
- “fessée” frequency rank
- #4,489
- “fesses” frequency rank
- 28040
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fessée | fesses |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Châtiment corporel consistant en une série de claques ou de coups administrés sur les fesses à main nue ou à l’aide d’un instrument. | Pluriel de fesse. |
Where the eye mixes fessée and fesses
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. fessée (CVCCVV) and fesses (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: fessée vs fesses
A purely visual mix-up. fessée (\fɛ.se\) and fesses (\fɛs\) 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 28040, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fessée is recorded at frequency rank #23,551, classified as anoun, pronounced \fɛ.se\. fesses is at rank #4,489, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fɛs\.
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 28040, this pair ranks #325,261 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fessée vs fesses
Shared letters: efs. Private to "fessée": é. Private to "fesses": -.
"fessée" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "fesses" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- fesses ← efsses · feses · fesess · fessess · fessse · ffesses · fseses
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fessée" and "fesses" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "fessée" vs "fesses" - which ranks higher?
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 "fessée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fesses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #325,261 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fessée" and "fesses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "faussée vs fessée". 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 #325,261 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.