Which to use
“fibres” and “figures” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,825
- “fibres” frequency rank
- #4,940
- “figures” frequency rank
- 12765
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fibres | figures |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de fibre. | Pluriel de figure. |
Where the eye mixes fibres and figures
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. fibres runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against figures's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses fibres with figures
A purely visual mix-up. fibres (\fibʁ\) and figures (\fi.ɡyʁ\) 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 12765, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fibres is recorded at frequency rank #7,825, classified as anoun, pronounced \fibʁ\. figures is at rank #4,940, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fi.ɡyʁ\.
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 12765, this pair ranks #403,862 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fibres vs figures
Shared letters: efirs. Private to "fibres": b. Private to "figures": gu.
"fibres" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "figures" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fibres" and "figures" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "fibres" vs "figures" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "fibres" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "figures" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #403,862 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fibres" and "figures" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fibres vs figées". 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 #403,862 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.