Which to use
“foul” is an adjective and “fun” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,574
- “foul” frequency rank
- #502
- “fun” frequency rank
- 7076
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | foul | fun |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Covered with, or containing unclean matter; dirty. | Amusement, enjoyment or pleasure. |
Where the eye mixes foul and fun
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses foul with fun
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: foul is /faʊl/ while fun is /fʌn/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7076, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
foul is recorded at frequency rank #6,574, classified as anadj, pronounced /faʊl/. fun is at rank #502, tagged as anoun, pronounced /fʌn/.
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 7076, this pair ranks #508,680 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of foul vs fun
Shared letters: fu. Private to "foul": lo. Private to "fun": n.
"foul" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "fun" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- foul ← ffoul · folu · foull · fuol · oful
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "foul" and "fun" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "foul" or "fun"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "foul" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fun" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #508,680 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "foul" and "fun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "FOMO 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 #508,680 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.