Which to use
“flue” and “foie” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,401
- “flue” frequency rank
- #42,645
- “foie” frequency rank
- 81046
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | flue | foie |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A pipe or duct that carries gaseous combustion products away from the point of combustion (such as a furnace). | Ellipsis of foie gras. |
Letter map: flue vs foie
Shared letters muted; letters that set flue and foie apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. flue (CCVV) and foie (CVVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Pair insight - flue / foie
flue and foie are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81046, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
flue is recorded at frequency rank #38,401, classified as anoun, pronounced /fluː/. foie is at rank #42,645, tagged as anoun.
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 81046, this pair ranks #18,532 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of flue vs foie
Shared letters: ef. Private to "flue": lu. Private to "foie": io.
"flue" · 4 letters · shape CCVV · "foie" · 4 letters · shape CVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "flue" for "foie" ever safe?
Frequency check: "flue" vs "foie" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pair "flue" vs "foie" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "flue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "foie" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #18,532 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "flue" and "foie" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "foie vs FOMO". 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 #18,532 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.