fièresvsfigéesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#33,689
“fières” frequency rank
#48,530
“figées” frequency rank
82219
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fières figées
Definition Féminin pluriel de fier. Féminin pluriel de figé.

Where the eye mixes fières and figées

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fières (CVVCVC) and figées (CVCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
fières
6 ch
figées

Look-alike desk: fières vs figées

A purely visual mix-up. fières (\fjɛʁ\) and figées (\fi.ʒe\) 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 82219, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fières is recorded at frequency rank #33,689, classified as anadj, pronounced \fjɛʁ\. figées is at rank #48,530, tagged as anadj, pronounced \fi.ʒe\.

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 82219, this pair ranks #17,160 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fières vs figées

Shared letters: efis. Private to "fières": rè. Private to "figées": gé.

"fières" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "figées" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "fières" and "figées" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\fjɛʁ\ versus \fi.ʒe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "fières" vs "figées" - which ranks higher?
"fières" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,689 in our French list, against #48,530 for "figées". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fières" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "figées" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #17,160 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fières" and "figées" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "figées vs fioles". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #17,160 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