Which to use
“feuilles” and “fouillis” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,717
- “feuilles” frequency rank
- #43,950
- “fouillis” frequency rank
- 46667
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | feuilles | fouillis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de feuille. | Entassement d'éléments disparates, pêle-mêle, juxtaposés par hasard, ou sans ordre, sans cohérence, sans méthode, sans intention clairement définie. |
Where the eye mixes feuilles and fouillis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. feuilles and fouillis follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses feuilles with fouillis
A purely visual mix-up. feuilles (\fœj\) and fouillis (\fu.ji\) 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 46667, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
feuilles is recorded at frequency rank #2,717, classified as anoun, pronounced \fœj\. fouillis is at rank #43,950, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fu.ji\.
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 46667, this pair ranks #193,113 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of feuilles vs fouillis
Shared letters: filsu. Private to "feuilles": e. Private to "fouillis": o.
"feuilles" · 8 letters · shape CVVVCCVC · "fouillis" · 8 letters · shape CVVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "feuilles" for "fouillis" ever safe?
Which is more common, "feuilles" or "fouillis"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "feuilles" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fouillis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #193,113 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "feuilles" and "fouillis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "feuillus vs fouillis". 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 #193,113 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.