blue

\ˈblu\

/\ˈblu\/ adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“blue” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #5,526) as an adjective. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#5,526
frequency rank, French
4,251
“B” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Bleu.

Corpus desk

Index FR-blue · blue · French

blue · rank #5,526 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,526
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,251
  • PHOTO-FINISH bad

Nearest frequency peer: bad (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Voisins de fréquence du confusable « blue »

Pairs de poids proche dans le corpus, séparés des confusables ci-dessous

corpus weight

What this shows Les barres placent « blue » face aux lemmes français les plus proches par rang, pas un reprint du bureau des confusables.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

blue vs bu
50% similar
blue vs but
50% similar
blue vs bus
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for blue
PropertyValue
Headwordblue
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\ˈblu\
Letters4
Frequency rank#5,526
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Rang de corpus près des confusables de « blue »

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).bluese place ici:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « bad » (#5,525), « bords » (#5,527), « ayez » (#5,524). Parmi 4,251 lemmes en « B », « blue » est au #5,526. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for blue is neighbouring look-alikes ("bu", "but", …), not just typos; it is anadjective pronounced \ˈblu\. Frequency #5,526 among 4,251 “B” headwords. 6 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for blue, with forms such as "bblue", "bllue", and "bule". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "bu", "but", "bus", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is blue, spelled B-L-U-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Bleu.
  2. 2
    Triste ou déprimé.
  3. 3
    Porno.
  4. 4
    Très froid.
  5. 5
    Qui supporte le parti démocrate.
  6. 6
    Qui supporte le parti conservateur.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how blue appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The sea is blue.
  2. The ladies were somewhat more fortunate, for they had the advantage of ascertaining from an upper window, that he wore a blue coat and rode a black horse.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bblue
  • bllue
  • bule
  • lbue

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of blue - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

bblue1bllue1bule2lbue2
Edit distance from "blue"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "blue"?
"blue" is spelled B-L-U-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ˈblu\.
What does "blue" mean?
As an adjective, "blue" means: Bleu.
What words are commonly confused with "blue"?
"blue" is commonly confused with "bu", "but", "bus". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "blue"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "blue" is \ˈblu\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "blue" come from?
"blue" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "blue", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

ayez#5,524that#5,506pari#5,483José#5,575

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list