figésvsfixéeConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#42,338
“figés” frequency rank
#6,826
“fixée” frequency rank
49164
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature figés fixée
Definition Masculin pluriel de figé. Féminin singulier de fixé.

Where the eye mixes figés and fixée

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. figés (CVCVC) and fixée (CVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
figés
5 ch
fixée

Look-alike desk: figés vs fixée

A purely visual mix-up. figés (\fi.ʒe\) and fixée (\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 49164, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

figés is recorded at frequency rank #42,338, classified as anadj, pronounced \fi.ʒe\. fixée is at rank #6,826, 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 49164, this pair ranks #172,931 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of figés vs fixée

Shared letters: fié. Private to "figés": gs. Private to "fixée": ex.

"figés" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "fixée" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "figés" for "fixée" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\fi.ʒe\ versus \fik.se\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "figés" or "fixée" show up more?
"fixée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,826 in our French list, against #42,338 for "figés". 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 "figés" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fixée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #172,931 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "figés" and "fixée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "figés vs Finger". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #172,931 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