fêmeavsfezesTell them apart

Which to use

“fêmea” and “fezes” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#10,016
“fêmea” frequency rank
#15,115
“fezes” frequency rank
25131
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fêmea fezes
Definition animal biologicamente do sexo feminino substância resultante do processo de digestão que não foi aproveitada pelo organismo; excremento

Where the eye mixes fêmea and fezes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. fêmea (CVCVV) and fezes (CVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
fêmea
5 ch
fezes

Look-alike desk: fêmea vs fezes

A purely visual mix-up. fêmea (/ˈfe.mjɐ/) and fezes (/ˈfɛ.zis/) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25131, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fêmea is recorded at frequency rank #10,016, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfe.mjɐ/. fezes is at rank #15,115, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈfɛ.zis/.

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 25131, this pair ranks #44,251 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fêmea vs fezes

Shared letters: ef. Private to "fêmea": amê. Private to "fezes": sz.

"fêmea" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "fezes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fezes ← efzes · feezs · fezess · fezse · fezzes · ffezes · fzees

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "fêmea" and "fezes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈfe.mjɐ/ versus /ˈfɛ.zis/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fêmea" or "fezes"?
"fêmea" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,016 in our Portuguese list, against #15,115 for "fezes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fêmea" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fezes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #44,251 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fêmea" and "fezes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fales vs fezes". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #44,251 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list