coulée
\ku.le\
The verdict
“coulée” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #18,972 in French word frequency and used as a noun.
- #18,972
- frequency rank, French
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Action de s’écouler ; résultat de cette action.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | coulée |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \ku.le\ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #18,972 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “coulée” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for coulée is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ku.le\. Corpus data places it at rank #18,972 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for coulée, with forms such as "ccoulée", "coluée", and "coulee". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "coupe", "coûte", "culte", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is coulée, spelled C-O-U-L-É-E.
Definition
- 1Action de s’écouler ; résultat de cette action.
- 2Déversement du métal ou du verre liquide hors des fourneaux.
- 3Sentier étroit par où le cerf gagne son réduit.
- 4Vallon.
- 5Faux chemin que les animaux tracent dans les bois.
- 6Caractère d’écriture penché, dont toutes les lettres se tiennent et dont tous les jambages sont droits.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ccoulée,coluée,coulee,couleé,coullée,couéle,cuolée,oculée
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of coulée - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 "coulée"?
What does "coulée" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "coulée"?
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Using “coulée”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is C-O-U-L-É-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \ku.le\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “coupe” - see the side-by-side comparison. coulée vs coupe
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.