foulard

\fu.laʁ\

/\fu.laʁ\/ noun

The verdict

“foulard” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #14,043 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#14,043
frequency rank, French
7
letters
10
tracked misspellings
4
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Étoffe de soie, de soie et coton ou de fibres artificielles, très légère et dont on fait des mouchoirs, des cravates, des fichus, des robes, etc.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

foulard vs fouler
71% similar
foulard vs foulards
88% similar
foulard vs Fouad
57% similar

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

Key facts for foulard
PropertyValue
Headwordfoulard
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\fu.laʁ\
Letters7
Frequency rank#14,043
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “foulard” 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). foulard 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 foulard is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \fu.laʁ\. Corpus data places it at rank #14,043 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for foulard, with forms such as "ffoulard", "foluard", and "foualrd". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "fouler", "foulards", "Fouad", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No documented word history exists for this headword, 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 foulard, spelled F-O-U-L-A-R-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    Étoffe de soie, de soie et coton ou de fibres artificielles, très légère et dont on fait des mouchoirs, des cravates, des fichus, des robes, etc.
  2. 2
    Pièce d’étoffe servant de mouchoir, de cache-col, d’écharpe ou de fichu.
  3. 3
    Foulard islamique, hidjab, porté sur la tête et couvrant souvent la totalité des cheveux.
  4. 4
    Machine servant à encoller des étoffes avec de l’apprêt ou d’autres substances.
  5. 5
    Acalypha, queue de chat.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ffoulard,foluard,foualrd,fouladr,foulardd,foularrd,foullard,foulrad,fuolard,ofulard

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ffoulard1foluard2foualrd2fouladr2foulardd1foularrd1foullard1foulrad2
Edit distance from "foulard"

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 "foulard"?
"foulard" is spelled F-O-U-L-A-R-D. The IPA pronunciation is \fu.laʁ\.
What does "foulard" mean?
As a noun, "foulard" means: Étoffe de soie, de soie et coton ou de fibres artificielles, très légère et dont on fait des mouchoirs, des cravates, des fichus, des robes, etc.
What words are commonly confused with "foulard"?
"foulard" is commonly confused with "fouler", "foulards", "Fouad". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "foulard"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "foulard" is \fu.laʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "foulard" come from?
"foulard" 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 “foulard”

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

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