ruche
\ʁyʃ\
The verdict
“ruche” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #15,998 in French word frequency and used as a noun.
- #15,998
- frequency rank, French
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Sorte de contenant où logent les abeilles.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ruche |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \ʁyʃ\ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #15,998 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “ruche” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for ruche is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ʁyʃ\. Corpus data places it at rank #15,998 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for ruche, with forms such as "rcuhe", "rruche", and "rucche". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "rue", "rude", "rush", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is ruche, spelled R-U-C-H-E.
Definition
- 1Sorte de contenant où logent les abeilles.
- 2Ce contenant, avec les abeilles qui sont dedans.
- 3Bande plissée d’étoffe, de tulle ou de dentelle qui sert d’ornement à différents ajustements dans la toilette des femmes.
- 4Foule de personnes.
- 5Grande agglomération, centre habité par une population nombreuse et active.
- 6Coiffure ruche, coiffure de femme qui ressemble à une ruche (cheveux longs et allongés).
- 7Paraphe compliqué généralement formé d’entrelacs et démontrant l’habilité du signataire à maîtriser l’écriture à la plume.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: rcuhe,rruche,rucche,ruceh,ruchhe,ruhce,urche
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ruche - 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.
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 "ruche"?
What does "ruche" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "ruche"?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “ruche”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is R-U-C-H-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \ʁyʃ\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “rue” - see the side-by-side comparison. ruche vs rue
- 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.