Which to use
“fièvre” is a noun and “figuré” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,248
- “fièvre” frequency rank
- #16,364
- “figuré” frequency rank
- 21612
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fièvre | figuré |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | État d'un animal (y compris un être humain) dont la température corporelle dépasse sa valeur normale. | Fait selon une certaine figure. |
Where the eye mixes fièvre and figuré
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. fièvre (CVVCCV) and figuré (CVCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: fièvre vs figuré
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fièvre is \fjɛvʁ\ while figuré is \fi.ɡy.ʁe\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21612, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fièvre is recorded at frequency rank #5,248, classified as anoun, pronounced \fjɛvʁ\. figuré is at rank #16,364, tagged as anadj, pronounced \fi.ɡy.ʁe\.
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 21612, this pair ranks #362,275 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fièvre vs figuré
Shared letters: fir. Private to "fièvre": evè. Private to "figuré": gué.
"fièvre" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "figuré" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fièvre" for "figuré" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "fièvre" or "figuré" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fièvre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "figuré" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #362,275 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fièvre" and "figuré" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "figer vs figuré". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #362,275 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.