fohvsfoulWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: foh is a intj, foul is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“foh” is an intj and “foul” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#49,923
“foh” frequency rank
#6,574
“foul” frequency rank
56497
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature foh foul
Definition An exclamation of abhorrence or contempt. Covered with, or containing unclean matter; dirty.

Letter map: foh vs foul

Shared letters muted; letters that set foh and foul apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

3 ch
foh
4 ch
foul

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: foh is anintj and foulanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56497, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

foh is recorded at frequency rank #49,923, classified as anintj. foul is at rank #6,574, tagged as anadj, pronounced /faʊl/.

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 56497, this pair ranks #125,868 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of foh vs foul

Shared letters: fo. Private to "foh": h. Private to "foul": lu.

"foh" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "foul" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • foulffoul · folu · foull · fuol · oful

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "foh" and "foul" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "foh" is an intj and "foul" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "foh" or "foul"?
"foul" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,574 in our English list, against #49,923 for "foh". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "foh" and "foul". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "foh" 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 #125,868 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "foh" and "foul" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "foh 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list