Which to use
“fente” and “flute” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,624
- “fente” frequency rank
- #45,047
- “flute” frequency rank
- 66671
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fente | flute |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Division en long pratiquée à un corps, à une masse quelconque. | Instrument à vent sous forme de tuyau percé d’orifices. De l’air soufflé est mis en vibration par un biseau disposé près de l’embouchure du tuyau dont la longueur est déterminée par le nombre et la taille d’orifices disposés sur le corps de l’instrument. On obtient différents sons par le souffle et par le mouvement des doigts sur les trous. |
Where the eye mixes fente and flute
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. fente (CVCCV) and flute (CCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses fente with flute
A purely visual mix-up. fente (\fɑ̃t\) and flute (\flyt\) 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 66671, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fente is recorded at frequency rank #21,624, classified as anoun, pronounced \fɑ̃t\. flute is at rank #45,047, tagged as anoun, pronounced \flyt\.
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 66671, this pair ranks #66,799 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fente vs flute
Shared letters: eft. Private to "fente": n. Private to "flute": lu.
"fente" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "flute" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fente" and "flute" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "fente" vs "flute" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fente" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "flute" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #66,799 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fente" and "flute" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fluctue vs flute". 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 #66,799 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.