Which to use
“folie” and “force” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,826
- “folie” frequency rank
- #8,863
- “force” frequency rank
- 22689
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | folie | force |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Irrsinn, Tollheit, Verrücktheit, Wahnsinn, Wahnwitz | Gewalt, Kraft, Stärke |
Where the eye mixes folie and force
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: folie vs force
A purely visual mix-up. folie ([fɔ.li]) and force ([fɔʁs]) 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 22689, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
folie is recorded at frequency rank #13,826, classified as anoun, pronounced [fɔ.li]. force is at rank #8,863, tagged as anoun, pronounced [fɔʁs].
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 22689, this pair ranks #1,870,995 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of folie vs force
Shared letters: efo. Private to "folie": il. Private to "force": cr.
"folie" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "force" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "folie" for "force" ever safe?
Frequency check: "folie" vs "force" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "folie" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "force" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,870,995 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "folie" and "force" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "folie vs folio". 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 #1,870,995 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.