Which to use
“faute” and “fuite” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #874
- “faute” frequency rank
- #2,879
- “fuite” frequency rank
- 3753
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | faute | fuite |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Manquement plus ou moins grave à un devoir, à une loi, à une règle, à un usage, à une convenance. | Action de fuir. |
Where the eye mixes faute and fuite
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between faute and fuite
A purely visual mix-up. faute (\fot\) and fuite (\fɥit\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3753, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
faute is recorded at frequency rank #874, classified as anoun, pronounced \fot\. fuite is at rank #2,879, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fɥit\.
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 3753, this pair ranks #433,271 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of faute vs fuite
Shared letters: eftu. Private to "faute": a. Private to "fuite": i.
"faute" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "fuite" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "faute" and "fuite" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "faute" or "fuite"?
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 "faute" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fuite" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #433,271 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "faute" and "fuite" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fange vs faute". 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 #433,271 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.