fort

\fɔʁ\

/\fɔʁ\/ adj

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

The verdict

“fort” is in the everyday core of French, ranked #380 in French word frequency and used as an adjective.

#380
frequency rank, French
4
letters
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Costaud, robuste, vigoureux.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

fort vs ft
50% similar
fort vs fou
50% similar
fort vs fût
50% similar

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

Key facts for fort
PropertyValue
Headwordfort
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\fɔʁ\
Letters4
Frequency rank#380
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “fort” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). fort lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for fort is 4 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \fɔʁ\. Corpus data places it at rank #380 in overall French word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 20 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 fort, with forms such as "ffort", "forrt", and "fortt". 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, "ft", "fou", "fût", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is fort, spelled F-O-R-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Costaud, robuste, vigoureux.
  2. 2
    Qui est puissant.
  3. 3
    Solide.
  4. 4
    Capable, habile, expérimenté.
  5. 5
    Gros.
  6. 6
    Intense, qui fait une vive impression sur le goût et sur l’odorat, la vue…
  7. 7
    Qui est impétueux, violent, énergique.
  8. 8
    Qui est important ou considérable.
  9. 9
    Qui est courageux, magnanime, ferme.
  10. 10
    Qui est gros et épais de matière, capable de porter un poids ou de résister à un choc.
  11. 11
    Qui est en état de résister aux attaques de l’ennemi.
  12. 12
    Nombreux.
  13. 13
    Rude, difficile, pénible.
  14. 14
    Considérable dans son genre et supérieur à une certaine valeur.
  15. 15
    La musique se divise en temps faibles et en temps forts.
  16. 16
    Qui est bien fondé, qui est appuyé sur de bons principes.
  17. 17
    Par comparaison du plus au moins,
  18. 18
    Il se dit également des expressions, du style, etc., lorsqu’ils joignent l’énergie à la justesse et qu’ils sont capables de frapper, d’entraîner.
  19. 19
    Raisonneur, indiscipliné ou obstiné.
  20. 20
    Se construit souvent avec la préposition « en » ou « de » suivie d’un nom qui indique le genre de force, la cause, la qualité, les ressources, etc., qui rendent fort.

Antonyms

faible

This word in other languages

strong(English)fuerte(Español)stark(Deutsch)forte(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ffort,forrt,fortt,fotr,frot,ofrt

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of fort - 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.

ffort1forrt1fortt1fotr2frot2ofrt2
Edit distance from "fort"

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 "fort"?
"fort" is spelled F-O-R-T. The IPA pronunciation is \fɔʁ\.
What does "fort" mean?
As an adjective, "fort" means: Costaud, robuste, vigoureux.
What words are commonly confused with "fort"?
"fort" is commonly confused with "ft", "fou", "fût". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "fort"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "fort" is \fɔʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "fort" come from?
"fort" 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.

Using “fort”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is F-O-R-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \fɔʁ\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “ft” - see the side-by-side comparison. fort vs ft
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list