fifivsfiftyWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: fifi is a noun, fifty is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“fifi” is a noun and “fifty” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#32,819
“fifi” frequency rank
#38,805
“fifty” frequency rank
71624
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fifi fifty
Definition Homme homosexuel ou efféminé. Cinquante.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fifi and fifty apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
fifi
5 ch
fifty

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fifi is \fi.fi\ while fifty is \ˈfɪf.ti\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71624, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fifi is recorded at frequency rank #32,819, classified as anoun, pronounced \fi.fi\. fifty is at rank #38,805, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ˈfɪf.ti\.

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 71624, this pair ranks #46,916 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fifi vs fifty

Shared letters: fi. Private to "fifi": -. Private to "fifty": ty.

"fifi" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "fifty" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fififfifi · ffii · fiffi · fiif · iffi
  • fiftyffifty · ffity · fiffty · fiftty · fiftyy · fifyt · fitfy · iffty

Frequency comparison

fifi#32,819
fifty#38,805

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fifi" and "fifty" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fifi" is a noun and "fifty" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fifi" or "fifty"?
"fifi" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,819 in our French list, against #38,805 for "fifty". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fifi vs fifty

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “fifi”; for an adjective, it's “fifty”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fifi” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list