Which to use
“fidèle” is an adjective and “fiole” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,138
- “fidèle” frequency rank
- #33,686
- “fiole” frequency rank
- 36824
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fidèle | fiole |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui garde sa foi, à l’égard d’une personne ou d’une idée, qui est constant dans les affections, qui remplit ses devoirs, ses engagements. | Petit flacon ou petite bouteille de verre à col étroit. |
Where the eye mixes fidèle and fiole
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fidèle runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against fiole's 5 (CVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses fidèle with fiole
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fidèle is \fi.dɛl\ while fiole is \fjɔl\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36824, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fidèle is recorded at frequency rank #3,138, classified as anadj, pronounced \fi.dɛl\. fiole is at rank #33,686, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fjɔl\.
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 36824, this pair ranks #266,896 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fidèle vs fiole
Shared letters: efil. Private to "fidèle": dè. Private to "fiole": o.
"fidèle" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "fiole" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- fiole ← ffiole · filoe · fioel · fiolle · ifole
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fidèle" for "fiole" ever safe?
Frequency check: "fidèle" vs "fiole" - 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 "fidèle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fiole" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #266,896 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fidèle" and "fiole" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "filez vs fiole". 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 #266,896 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.