Which to use
“fière” is an adjective and “filière” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,247
- “fière” frequency rank
- #5,758
- “filière” frequency rank
- 11005
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fière | filière |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de fier. | Forme creuse permettant de filer un matériau malléable en forme de fil. |
Where the eye mixes fière and filière
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. fière runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against filière's 7 (CVCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses fière with filière
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fière is \fjɛʁ\ while filière is \fi.ljɛʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 11005, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fière is recorded at frequency rank #5,247, classified as anadj, pronounced \fjɛʁ\. filière is at rank #5,758, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fi.ljɛʁ\.
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 11005, this pair ranks #410,832 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fière vs filière
Shared letters: efirè. Private to "fière": -. Private to "filière": l.
"fière" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "filière" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fière" for "filière" ever safe?
Which is more common, "fière" or "filière"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "fière" and "filière" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "fière" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "filière" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #410,832 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fière" and "filière" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fee vs fière". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #410,832 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.