ficvsfigConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#46,762
“fic” frequency rank
#16,879
“fig” frequency rank
63641
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fic fig
Definition Verrue à pédoncule étroit ressemblant à une figue. Figurine, pion représentant un personnage.

Where the eye mixes fic and fig

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
fic
3 ch
fig

Visual trap between fic and fig

A purely visual mix-up. fic (\fik\) and fig (\fiɡ\) 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 a single letter - c in “fic” becomes g in “fig”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63641, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fic is recorded at frequency rank #46,762, classified as anoun, pronounced \fik\. fig is at rank #16,879, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fiɡ\.

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 63641, this pair ranks #80,948 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fic vs fig

Shared letters: fi. Private to "fic": c. Private to "fig": g.

"fic" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "fig" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "fic" and "fig" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\fik\ versus \fiɡ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fic" or "fig"?
"fig" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,879 in our French list, against #46,762 for "fic". 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 "fic" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fig" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #80,948 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fic" and "fig" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fee vs fic". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #80,948 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