Which to use
“fiefs” and “foies” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,016
- “fiefs” frequency rank
- #47,901
- “foies” frequency rank
- 68917
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fiefs | foies |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de fief. | Pluriel de foie. |
Where the eye mixes fiefs and foies
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fiefs (CVVCC) and foies (CVVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses fiefs with foies
A purely visual mix-up. fiefs (\fjɛf\) and foies (\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 68917, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fiefs is recorded at frequency rank #21,016, classified as anoun, pronounced \fjɛf\. foies is at rank #47,901, 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 68917, this pair ranks #57,197 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fiefs vs foies
Shared letters: efis. Private to "fiefs": -. Private to "foies": o.
"fiefs" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "foies" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fiefs" for "foies" ever safe?
Which is more common, "fiefs" or "foies"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "fiefs" and "foies" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "fiefs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "foies" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #57,197 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fiefs" and "foies" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "foies vs fouets". 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 #57,197 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.