Which to use
“boule” and “buée” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,648
- “boule” frequency rank
- #42,782
- “buée” frequency rank
- 47430
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | boule | buée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Corps rond en tous sens, généralement plein. — Note d’usage : Se dit surtout des objets dont les dimensions leur permettent d’être tenus en main. | Lessive (dans le sens de linge que l’on lave). |
Where the eye mixes boule and buée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. boule runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against buée's 4 (CVVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between boule and buée
A purely visual mix-up. boule (\bul\) and buée (\bɥe\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47430, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
boule is recorded at frequency rank #4,648, classified as anoun, pronounced \bul\. buée is at rank #42,782, tagged as anoun, pronounced \bɥe\.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 47430, this pair ranks #187,011 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of boule vs buée
Shared letters: beu. Private to "boule": lo. Private to "buée": é.
"boule" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "buée" · 4 letters · shape CVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- boule ← bboule · bolue · bouel · boulle · buole · obule
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "boule" for "buée" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "boule" or "buée" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "boule" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "buée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #187,011 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "boule" and "buée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "buée vs bury". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #187,011 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.