Which to use
“fief” and “foie” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,833
- “fief” frequency rank
- #5,041
- “foie” frequency rank
- 14874
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fief | foie |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Domaine noble dont le détenteur, le vassal, devait l’hommage et ordinairement aussi quelque redevance, quelque service, etc., au seigneur, possesseur du domaine. | Organe présent chez l’être humain et chez la plupart des vertébrés, produisant la bile. Il sert, entre autres, à régler le métabolisme des glucides. |
Where the eye mixes fief and foie
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. fief (CVVC) and foie (CVVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between fief and foie
A purely visual mix-up. fief (\fjɛf\) and foie (\fwa\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14874, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fief is recorded at frequency rank #9,833, classified as anoun, pronounced \fjɛf\. foie is at rank #5,041, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fwa\.
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 14874, this pair ranks #394,841 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fief vs foie
Shared letters: efi. Private to "fief": -. Private to "foie": o.
"fief" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "foie" · 4 letters · shape CVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fief" for "foie" ever safe?
Which is more common, "fief" or "foie"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fief" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "foie" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #394,841 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fief" and "foie" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fief vs filez". 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 #394,841 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.