fourre-tout
\fuʁ.tu\
The verdict
“fourre-tout” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Débarras ; endroit, réel ou virtuel, où s’entassent diverses choses.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | fourre-tout |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \fuʁ.tu\ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “fourre-tout” sits in French frequency
Rare enough to double-check
fourre-tout is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \fuʁ.tu\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for fourre-tout, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is fourre-tout, spelled F-O-U-R-R-E---T-O-U-T.
Definition
- 1Débarras ; endroit, réel ou virtuel, où s’entassent diverses choses.
- 2Sac où s’entassent diverses choses.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "fourre-tout"?
What does "fourre-tout" mean?
How do you pronounce "fourre-tout"?
What language does "fourre-tout" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “fourre-tout”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is F-O-U-R-R-E---T-O-U-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \fuʁ.tu\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.