FlutvsFoulWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“Flut” and “Foul” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#10,084
“Flut” frequency rank
#16,991
“Foul” frequency rank
27075
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Flut Foul
Definition der (in den meisten Teilen der Welt) zwei Mal tägliche Zeitraum des Wasserauflaufes an den Küsten der Weltmeere Regelverstoß, bei dem der Gegenspieler mit unfairen und unsportlichen Mitteln benachteiligt wird

Where the eye mixes Flut and Foul

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Flut
4 ch
Foul

Why the eye confuses Flut with Foul

A purely visual mix-up. Flut ([fluːt]) and Foul ([faʊ̯l]) 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 27075, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Flut is recorded at frequency rank #10,084, classified as anoun, pronounced [fluːt]. Foul is at rank #16,991, tagged as anoun, pronounced [faʊ̯l].

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 27075, this pair ranks #1,807,760 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Flut vs Foul

Shared letters: flu. Private to "Flut": t. Private to "Foul": o.

"Flut" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "Foul" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Flutfflut · fllut · fltu · flutt · fult
  • Foulffoul · folu · foull · fuol · oful

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Flut" for "Foul" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fluːt] versus [faʊ̯l]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Flut" vs "Foul" - which ranks higher?
"Flut" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,084 in our German list, against #16,991 for "Foul". 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 "Flut" and "Foul" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Flut" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Foul" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,807,760 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Flut" and "Foul" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fock vs Foul". 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 #1,807,760 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list