fauve
\fov\
The verdict
“fauve” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #15,878 in French word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #15,878
- frequency rank, French
- 5
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - De la couleur ocre orangé à roux. #AD4F09
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 | fauve |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | \fov\ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #15,878 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “fauve” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for fauve is 5 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \fov\. Corpus data places it at rank #15,878 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for fauve, with forms such as "afuve", "fauev", and "fauvve". 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, "faux", "fume", "five", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is fauve, spelled F-A-U-V-E.
Definition
- 1De la couleur ocre orangé à roux. #AD4F09
- 2Qui a la violence, l’avidité, la férocité d’une bête fauve.
- 3Sauvage, dangereux, ayant un rapport animal par opposition avec l’être humain.
- 4Qui est relatif au fauvisme.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: afuve,fauev,fauvve,favue,ffauve,fuave
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of fauve - 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.
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 "fauve"?
What does "fauve" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "fauve"?
How do you pronounce "fauve"?
What language does "fauve" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “fauve”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is F-A-U-V-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \fov\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “faux” - see the side-by-side comparison. fauve vs faux
- 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.