folle

\fɔl\

/\fɔl\/ noun

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

The verdict

“folle” has 5 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #3,074. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,074
frequency rank, French
3,276
“F” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Filet à larges mailles, tendu lâche.

Corpus desk

Index FR-folle · folle · French

folle · rank #3,074 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,074
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,276
  • PHOTO-FINISH feuille

Nearest frequency peer: feuille (-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 « folle »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « folle » 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).

folle vs full
60% similar
folle vs forme
60% similar
folle vs force
60% similar

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

Key facts for folle
PropertyValue
Headwordfolle
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\fɔl\
Letters5
Frequency rank#3,074
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « folle »

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).follese 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 « feuille » (#3,073), « forts » (#3,075), « favorable » (#3,072). Parmi 3,276 lemmes en « F », « folle » est au #3,074. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around folle (IPA \fɔl\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #3,074 among 3,276 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for folle, with forms such as "ffolle", "flole", and "fole". 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, "full", "forme", "force", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is folle, spelled F-O-L-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Filet à larges mailles, tendu lâche.
  2. 2
    Essoreuse centrifuge utilisée dans l’industrie textile. On la nomme aussi panier à salade.
  3. 3
    Femme atteinte de folie.
  4. 4
    ou Homosexuel ; le plus souvent, homosexuel efféminé, éventuellement parodique, voire travesti.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Rousret. C'est le nom qu'on donne à Calais aux folles ou bouteux qui servent à prendre des chevrettes & des sauterelles.
  2. Êtes-vous un homo ? Êtes-vous une pédale, une tapette, une folle, une chochotte, un empaffé, un de la jaquette, une tantouse ?

This word in other languages

queen(English)loca(Español)Schwuchtel(Deutsch)louca(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ffolle
  • flole
  • fole
  • folel
  • oflle

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ffolle1flole2fole1folel2oflle2
Edit distance from "folle"

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 "folle"?
"folle" is spelled F-O-L-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is \fɔl\.
What does "folle" mean?
As a noun, "folle" means: Filet à larges mailles, tendu lâche.
What words are commonly confused with "folle"?
"folle" is commonly confused with "full", "forme", "force". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "folle"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "folle" is \fɔl\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "folle" come from?
"folle" 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 "folle", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

forts#3,075liées#3,082Corée#3,062bleus#3,056

Similar misspelling depth

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

paye5 variantsqueue5 variantstoit5 variantsbattu5 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list