fiervsfixeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,365
“fier” frequency rank
#2,615
“fixe” frequency rank
4980
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fier fixe
Definition Qui éprouve une envie d’amour-propre souvent fondée. Immobile.

Where the eye mixes fier and fixe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
fier
4 ch
fixe

Visual trap between fier and fixe

A purely visual mix-up. fier (\fjɛʁ\) and fixe (\fiks\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4980, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fier is recorded at frequency rank #2,365, classified as anadj, pronounced \fjɛʁ\. fixe is at rank #2,615, tagged as anadj, pronounced \fiks\.

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 4980, this pair ranks #430,212 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fier vs fixe

Shared letters: efi. Private to "fier": r. Private to "fixe": x.

"fier" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "fixe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fierfeir · ffier · fierr · ifer
  • fixeffixe · fiex · fixxe · fxie · ifxe

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "fier" for "fixe" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\fjɛʁ\ versus \fiks\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fier" or "fixe"?
"fier" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,365 in our French list, against #2,615 for "fixe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fier" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fixe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #430,212 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fier" and "fixe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "filez vs fixe". 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 #430,212 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