fièresvsfixéesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#33,689
“fières” frequency rank
#12,572
“fixées” frequency rank
46261
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fières fixées
Definition Féminin pluriel de fier. Féminin pluriel de fixé.

Where the eye mixes fières and fixées

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

6 ch
fières
6 ch
fixées

Visual trap between fières and fixées

A purely visual mix-up. fières (\fjɛʁ\) and fixées (\fik.se\) 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 46261, 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\. fixées is at rank #12,572, tagged as anadj, pronounced \fik.se\.

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 46261, this pair ranks #196,314 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fières vs fixées

Shared letters: efis. Private to "fières": rè. Private to "fixées": xé.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "fières" and "fixées" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\fjɛʁ\ versus \fik.se\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "fières" or "fixées" show up more?
"fixées" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,572 in our French list, against #33,689 for "fières". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "fières" and "fixées" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fières" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fixées" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #196,314 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fières" and "fixées" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fières vs figées". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #196,314 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