fou

\fu\

/\fu\/ adj

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

The verdict

“fou” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #1,063) as an adjective. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#1,063
frequency rank, French
3,276
“F” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Qualifie une personne qui a perdu la raison, qui est atteinte d’aliénation mentale.

Corpus desk

Index FR-fou · fou · French

fou · rank #1,063 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,063
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,276
  • PHOTO-FINISH fonds

Nearest frequency peer: fonds (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “fou”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “fou” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

fou vs ft
33% similar
fou vs Fs
0% similar
fou vs FP
0% similar

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

Key facts for fou
PropertyValue
Headwordfou
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\fu\
Letters3
Frequency rank#1,063
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Où “fou” se place dans la fréquence du français

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).fouse 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 « fonds » (#1,062), « gestion » (#1,064), « juge » (#1,065). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for fou is neighbouring look-alikes ("ft", "Fs", …), not just typos; it is anadjective pronounced \fu\. Frequency #1,063 among 3,276 “F” headwords. 12 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for fou, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ft", "Fs", "FP", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

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 fou, spelled F-O-U.

Definition

  1. 1
    Qualifie une personne qui a perdu la raison, qui est atteinte d’aliénation mentale.
  2. 2
    Qualifie une personne qui perd patience par les choses qu’on lui a dites, qu’on lui a faites mal à propos.
  3. 3
    Qualifie une personne qui fait ou qui dit des extravagances, qui commet toutes sortes de maladresses.
  4. 4
    Qualifie tout ce qui est contraire à la raison, à la prudence, à la modération.
  5. 5
    Qualifie une personne hors d’elle, passionnée.
  6. 6
    Qualifie quelque chose de stupide.
  7. 7
    Qualifie quelque chose de surprenant.
  8. 8
    Qualifie quelque chose d’exagéré, de démesuré, d’énorme.
  9. 9
    Qualifie un mécanisme dérangé.
  10. 10
    Qualifie une roue, une poulie, un tambour etc. ne transmettant pas de force motrice et tournant librement autour de son axe.
  11. 11
    Extrêmement gai, badin, enjoué.
  12. 12
    Qui manque d’ordre, qui suit un comportement apparemment capricieux.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Cet homme est fou.
  2. Elle me dit : « Être fou, c’est ne pas savoir de quel côté de la porte on se trouve. Ces mots ont-ils un sens pour vous ? Je pense que non, mais je ne puis dire cela autrement. »

Synonyms

agité du bocalaliénéavoir été bercé trop près du murazimutébargebarjebarjobarjotbotchbrindezinguecabourdcabourdascaluccinglécintréchtarbédéjantédémentdétraquédérangédéséquilibrédinguedingofadafadolifêléfoldingofoldinguefou à lierfoulekfrappadinguegelégivrégogolguedininsanejobardjobastreloufloufetinguelouftinguemaboulmarteaunévropathenévrosénévrotiqueoufperturbépété par la geléepsychasthéniquepsychopathepsychotiquesinoquesiphonnétabanardtarétcharbétimbrétoctoctoc-toctoquézinzinzonézonzonaccroamoureuxdingodingueférufondumarteaumordupassionnéaberrantabsurdedéraisonnableinsenséstupidebizarreextravagantfantasquesurprenanténorme

This word in other languages

crazy(English)loco(Español)wahnsinnig(Deutsch)louco(Português)

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 "fou"?
"fou" is spelled F-O-U. The IPA pronunciation is \fu\.
What does "fou" mean?
As an adjective, "fou" means: Qualifie une personne qui a perdu la raison, qui est atteinte d’aliénation mentale.
What words are commonly confused with "fou"?
"fou" is commonly confused with "ft", "Fs", "FP". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "fou"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "fou" is \fu\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "fou" come from?
"fou" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 "fou", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Mme#1,067con#1,056pro#1,039bah#1,107

What to do next

You've looked up "fou". Here's where to go from here.

  • "fou" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "ft". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #1,063 among French headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more French words in the "F" letter cohort. F–Z browse

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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