Which to use
“fétiche” and “fiche” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,149
- “fétiche” frequency rank
- #1,917
- “fiche” frequency rank
- 22066
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fétiche | fiche |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Objet de culte animiste, objet cher aux peuples premiers ou chose qui est chez eux un objet de culte. | Action de ficher, d’enfoncer ; quantité dont on enfonce dans le sol un pieu de fondation. |
Where the eye mixes fétiche and fiche
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. fétiche runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against fiche's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: fétiche vs fiche
A purely visual mix-up. fétiche (\fe.tiʃ\) and fiche (\fiʃ\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22066, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fétiche is recorded at frequency rank #20,149, classified as anoun, pronounced \fe.tiʃ\. fiche is at rank #1,917, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fiʃ\.
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 22066, this pair ranks #359,983 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fétiche vs fiche
Shared letters: cefhi. Private to "fétiche": té. Private to "fiche": -.
"fétiche" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "fiche" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- fiche ← fcihe · ffiche · ficche · ficeh · fichhe · fihce · ifche
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fétiche" for "fiche" ever safe?
Which is more common, "fétiche" or "fiche"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "fétiche" and "fiche" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "fétiche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fiche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #359,983 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fétiche" and "fiche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fétiche vs fétide". 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 #359,983 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.