pouf

\puf\

/\puf\/ adj

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

The verdict

“pouf” has 5 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #20,244. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#20,244
frequency rank, French
6,826
“P” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Qualifie des pierres qui s’égrenent et tombent en poussière quand on les travaille.

Corpus desk

Index FR-pouf · pouf · French

pouf · rank #20,244 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #20,244
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,826
  • PHOTO-FINISH potion

Nearest frequency peer: potion (-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.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « pouf »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « pouf » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

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).

pouf vs pu
50% similar
pouf vs pub
50% similar
pouf vs pur
50% similar

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

Key facts for pouf
PropertyValue
Headwordpouf
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\puf\
Letters4
Frequency rank#20,244
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « pouf »

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).poufse place ici:

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

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « potion » (#20,243), « poussette » (#20,245), « posthume » (#20,242). Parmi 6,826 lemmes en « P », « pouf » est au #20,244. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around pouf (IPA \puf\), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #20,244 among 6,826 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for pouf, with forms such as "opuf", "pofu", and "pouff". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "pu", "pub", "pur", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is pouf, spelled P-O-U-F.

Definition

  1. 1
    Qualifie des pierres qui s’égrenent et tombent en poussière quand on les travaille.
  2. 2
    Qualifie un marbre qui, en le taillant, ne peut retenir ses arêtes vives étant sujet à s'égrener.
  3. 3
    Qui a la juste résistance qu’exige la fonte, en parlant du noyau.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Le marbre que fournit généralement le dépôt de l’île des Cygnes est un marbre qu’il appelle un marbre pouf, un marbre sans la sonorité du métal, un marbre friable et dont on ne peut rien faire.
  2. Destiné à être sculpté, le marbre blanc ne devait contenir aucun fil, aucune scorie et, moins encore, ces parties « pouf » où le coup de pointe brusquement assourdi s'accompagne d'un petit effritement plâtreux. On voulait qu'il n'offrît que des parties « fières », c'est-à-dire dures, en terme de métier, et d'un blanc de saindoux.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • opuf
  • pofu
  • pouff
  • ppouf
  • puof

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of pouf - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

opuf2pofu2pouff1ppouf1puof2
Edit distance from "pouf"

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 "pouf"?
"pouf" is spelled P-O-U-F. The IPA pronunciation is \puf\.
What does "pouf" mean?
As an adjective, "pouf" means: Qualifie des pierres qui s’égrenent et tombent en poussière quand on les travaille.
What words are commonly confused with "pouf"?
"pouf" is commonly confused with "pu", "pub", "pur". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "pouf"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "pouf" is \puf\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "pouf" come from?
"pouf" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "pouf", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

pepe#20,231OVNI#20,222OSEF#20,221Olga#20,218

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).

kara5 variantsJeep5 variantsYale5 variantsfloue5 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list