Which to use
“feindre” and “fondre” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,810
- “feindre” frequency rank
- #7,829
- “fondre” frequency rank
- 45639
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | feindre | fondre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Présenter une chose comme réelle en lui donnant une fausse apparence. | Liquéfier ou rendre fluide, au moyen de la chaleur, une substance plus ou moins solide. |
Where the eye mixes feindre and fondre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. feindre runs 7 letters (CVVCCCV) against fondre's 6 (CVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: feindre vs fondre
A purely visual mix-up. feindre (\fɛ̃dʁ\) and fondre (\fɔ̃dʁ\) 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 45639, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
feindre is recorded at frequency rank #37,810, classified as averb, pronounced \fɛ̃dʁ\. fondre is at rank #7,829, tagged as averb, pronounced \fɔ̃dʁ\.
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 45639, this pair ranks #201,210 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of feindre vs fondre
Shared letters: defnr. Private to "feindre": i. Private to "fondre": o.
"feindre" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCCV · "fondre" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "feindre" for "fondre" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "feindre" or "fondre" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "feindre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fondre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #201,210 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "feindre" and "fondre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "feindre vs fendue". 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 #201,210 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.