folie

\fɔ.li\

/\fɔ.li\/ noun

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

The verdict

“folie” has 6 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #3,197. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,197
frequency rank, French
3,276
“F” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Dérangement de l’esprit, accès de folie.

Corpus desk

Index FR-folie · folie · French

folie · rank #3,197 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,197
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,276
  • PHOTO-FINISH fins

Nearest frequency peer: fins (-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 « folie »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « folie » 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).

folie vs folk
60% similar
folie vs foll
60% similar
folie vs forme
60% similar

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

Key facts for folie
PropertyValue
Headwordfolie
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\fɔ.li\
Letters5
Frequency rank#3,197
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « folie »

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.foliese 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 « fins » (#3,196), « forum » (#3,198), « extension » (#3,195). Parmi 3,276 lemmes en « F », « folie » est au #3,197. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around folie (IPA \fɔ.li\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #3,197 among 3,276 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 11 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for folie, with forms such as "ffolie", "floie", and "foile". 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, "folk", "foll", "forme", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is folie, spelled F-O-L-I-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Dérangement de l’esprit, accès de folie.
  2. 2
    Lésion plus ou moins complète et ordinairement de longue durée des facultés intellectuelles et affectives, sans trouble notable dans les sensations et les mouvements volontaires, et sans désordre grave ou même apparent des fonctions nutritives et génératrices.
  3. 3
    Absence de raison, extravagance, manque de jugement.
  4. 4
    Action folle, idée folle.
  5. 5
    Gaieté vive dans laquelle on fait ou dit des choses propres à divertir.
  6. 6
    La Folie, personnage fictif qu’on représente sous la figure d’une femme joyeuse avec une marotte et des grelots.
  7. 7
    Joyeusetés en paroles ou en actions.
  8. 8
    Caricature, charge plaisante.
  9. 9
    Goût exclusif, passionné, idée en laquelle on se complaît.
  10. 10
    Accointance charnelle.
  11. 11
    En chaleur, en parlant des animaux.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. C’est une chose admirable que tous les grands hommes ont toujours quelque petit grain de folie mêlé à leur science.
  2. Qu'est-ce que la folie ? c’est d’avoir des pensées incohérentes et la conduite de même.

Synonyms

amokforcènementégarementcrétinismedéliredéraisonfrénésieimbécillitéinconsciencemodenévrosepassiontéméritévésanie

This word in other languages

madness(English)locura(Español)Tollheit(Deutsch)loucura(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ffolie
  • floie
  • foile
  • folei
  • follie
  • oflie

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of folie - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ffolie1floie2foile2folei2follie1oflie2
Edit distance from "folie"

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 "folie"?
"folie" is spelled F-O-L-I-E. The IPA pronunciation is \fɔ.li\.
What does "folie" mean?
As a noun, "folie" means: Dérangement de l’esprit, accès de folie.
What words are commonly confused with "folie"?
"folie" is commonly confused with "folk", "foll", "forme". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "folie"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "folie" is \fɔ.li\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "folie" come from?
"folie" 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 "folie", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

forum#3,198crème#3,191aimez#3,179trump#3,173

Similar misspelling depth

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

fins6 variantsraté6 variantswith6 variantsYves6 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list