fauve

\fov\

/\fov\/ adj

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

The verdict

“fauve” has 6 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #15,878. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#15,878
frequency rank, French
3,276
“F” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - De la couleur ocre orangé à roux. #AD4F09

Corpus desk

Index FR-fauve · fauve · French

fauve · rank #15,878 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #15,878
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,276
  • PHOTO-FINISH faure

Nearest frequency peer: faure (-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.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « fauve »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « fauve » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

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).

fauve vs faux
60% similar
fauve vs fume
60% similar
fauve vs five
60% similar

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

Key facts for fauve
PropertyValue
Headwordfauve
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\fov\
Letters5
Frequency rank#15,878
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « fauve »

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.fauvese place ici:

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

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « faure » (#15,877), « fiançailles » (#15,879), « flexible » (#15,881). Parmi 3,276 lemmes en « F », « fauve » est au #15,878. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around fauve (IPA \fov\), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #15,878 among 3,276 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

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

  1. 1
    De la couleur ocre orangé à roux. #AD4F09
  2. 2
    Qui a la violence, l’avidité, la férocité d’une bête fauve.
  3. 3
    Sauvage, dangereux, ayant un rapport animal par opposition avec l’être humain.
  4. 4
    Qui est relatif au fauvisme.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. bêtes fauves, cerfs, chevreuils, daims, par opposition aux bêtes noires ou rousses, comme les sangliers et les renards.
  2. Quelle fut la joie, l’émotion de la jeune Esquimaude, […], lorsqu’elle aperçut ce bouquet de sapins, enflammé par le lieutenant Hobson, qui jeta ses fauves lueurs jusqu’au littoral américain.

Synonyms

ocreroussâtredangereuxprédateurbestial

This word in other languages

tawny(English)leonado(Español)rehbraun(Deutsch)

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.

afuve2fauev2fauvve1favue2ffauve1fuave2
Edit distance from "fauve"

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"?
"fauve" is spelled F-A-U-V-E. The IPA pronunciation is \fov\.
What does "fauve" mean?
As an adjective, "fauve" means: De la couleur ocre orangé à roux. #AD4F09
What words are commonly confused with "fauve"?
"fauve" is commonly confused with "faux", "fume", "five". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "fauve"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "fauve" is \fov\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "fauve" come from?
"fauve" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "fauve", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

faure#15,877flots#15,882gâche#15,895gérés#15,898

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

chase6 variantsMasson6 variantsbalai6 variantsnoyé6 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list