hue

intj

The verdict

“hue” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #21,965) as an interjection. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#21,965
frequency rank, French
1,969
“H” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Mot dont se servent les charretiers pour faire avancer les chevaux, ou pour les faire tourner à droite.

Corpus desk

Index FR-hue · hue · French

hue · rank #21,965 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #21,965
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,969
  • PHOTO-FINISH holly

Nearest frequency peer: holly (-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 “hue”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “hue” 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).

hue vs Hz
0% similar
hue vs hy
33% similar
hue vs hum
67% similar

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

Key facts for hue
PropertyValue
Headwordhue
LanguageFrench
Part of speechInterjection
Letters3
Frequency rank#21,965
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “hue” 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).hue lands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for hue is neighbouring look-alikes ("Hz", "hy", …), not just typos; it is aninterjection. Frequency #21,965 among 1,969 “H” headwords. 2 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

No generated misspelling entries exist for hue in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Hz", "hy", "hum", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is hue, spelled H-U-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Mot dont se servent les charretiers pour faire avancer les chevaux, ou pour les faire tourner à droite.
  2. 2
    Mot dont se servent les enfants pour faire avancer leur jouet représentant un cheval.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Un peu plus tard, il avait appris à crier très fort : « Heulle ! Heulle ! » derrière les vaches aux croupes maigres, et : « Hue ! Dia ! » et « Harrié ! » derrière les chevaux au labour, à tenir la fourche à foin et à bâtir les clôtures de pieux.
  2. « Hue-dada ! Hue-dada ! » hurlait Bonbon en faisan claquer ses deux pieds et le fer de la pelle.

Synonyms

Antonyms

This word in other languages

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "hue"?
"hue" is spelled H-U-E.
What does "hue" mean?
As an interjection, "hue" means: Mot dont se servent les charretiers pour faire avancer les chevaux, ou pour les faire tourner à droite.
What words are commonly confused with "hue"?
"hue" is commonly confused with "Hz", "hy", "hum". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What language does "hue" come from?
"hue" 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 "hue", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

What to do next

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

  • "hue" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "Hz". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #21,965 among French headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more French words in the "H" letter cohort. H–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