Which to use
“Foul” and “fox” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,991
- “Foul” frequency rank
- #6,658
- “fox” frequency rank
- 23649
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Foul | fox |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Regelverstoß, bei dem der Gegenspieler mit unfairen und unsportlichen Mitteln benachteiligt wird | der Fuchs |
Where the eye mixes Foul and fox
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Foul with fox
A purely visual mix-up. Foul ([faʊ̯l]) and fox ([fɒks]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23649, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Foul is recorded at frequency rank #16,991, classified as anoun, pronounced [faʊ̯l]. fox is at rank #6,658, tagged as anoun, pronounced [fɒks].
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 23649, this pair ranks #1,858,483 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Foul vs fox
Shared letters: fo. Private to "Foul": lu. Private to "fox": x.
"Foul" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "fox" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Foul ← ffoul · folu · foull · fuol · oful
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Foul" for "fox" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Foul" or "fox" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "Foul" and "fox" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Foul" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fox" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,858,483 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Foul" and "fox" 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 #1,858,483 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.