kung-fu
\kuŋ.fu\
The verdict
“kung-fu” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Art martial chinois.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | kung-fu |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \kuŋ.fu\ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “kung-fu” sits in French frequency
Rare enough to double-check
kung-fu is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \kuŋ.fu\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Art martial chinois.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for kung-fu, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is kung-fu, spelled K-U-N-G---F-U.
Definition
- 1Art martial chinois.
Synonyms
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “kung-fu”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is K-U-N-G---F-U - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \kuŋ.fu\ (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.