Which to use
“fau” is a noun and “faux” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,799
- “fau” frequency rank
- #920
- “faux” frequency rank
- 39719
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fau | faux |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ou Hêtre, plus particulièrement le hêtre tortillard (Fagus sylvatica). | Qui n’est pas conforme, ou qui ne se conforme pas à la réalité. Quand il s’agit des idées et des sentiments, et de leur expression, il signifie que ces idées, ces sentiments ou leur expression sont contraires à la réalité par erreur ou par imposture. |
Same sound, different letters: fau vs faux
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 3 letters. fau runs 3 letters (CVV) against faux's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Ear matches; page differs - fau and faux
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: fau and faux carry the same recorded pronunciation, \fo\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “fau” sits inside “faux”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39719, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fau is recorded at frequency rank #38,799, classified as anoun, pronounced \fo\. faux is at rank #920, tagged as anadj, pronounced \fo\.
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 39719, this pair ranks #245,896 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fau vs faux
Shared letters: afu. Private to "fau": -. Private to "faux": x.
"fau" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "faux" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- faux ← afux · fauxx · faxu · ffaux · fuax
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fau" and "faux" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "fau" or "faux"?
What to do next
"fau" and "faux" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "fau" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "faux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #245,896 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fau" and "faux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fau vs Fee". 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 #245,896 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.