feutrevsfoudreWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“feutre” and “foudre” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#24,591
“feutre” frequency rank
#7,830
“foudre” frequency rank
32421
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature feutre foudre
Definition Étoffe non tissée constituée de poils ou de fibres de laine agglomérées ensemble par soufflage, et mise sous pression avec ébouillantage dans la forme, ou, en fabrication traditionnelle mongole par mouillage et foulage. Décharge électrique, par temps d’orage, entre des nuages et certaines fois entre des nuages et le sol, qui produit une vive lumière (dite éclair) et une violente détonation (dont le son est dit tonnerre). On dit, comme sur la photo, que la foudre est tombée quand elle a touché le sol ou quelque chose en relief sur le sol ou connecté au sol: arbre, construction, etc., a été touché.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set feutre and foudre apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
feutre
6 ch
foudre

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. feutre (\føtʁ\) and foudre (\fudʁ\) 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 32421, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

feutre is recorded at frequency rank #24,591, classified as anoun, pronounced \føtʁ\. foudre is at rank #7,830, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fudʁ\.

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 32421, this pair ranks #297,410 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of feutre vs foudre

Shared letters: efru. Private to "feutre": t. Private to "foudre": do.

"feutre" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "foudre" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • feutreefutre · feture · feurte · feuter · feutrre · feuttre · ffeutre · fuetre
  • foudreffoudre · fodure · fouddre · fouder · foudrre · fourde · fuodre · ofudre

Frequency comparison

feutre#24,591
foudre#7,830

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "feutre" and "foudre" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\føtʁ\ versus \fudʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "feutre" or "foudre"?
"foudre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,830 in our French list, against #24,591 for "feutre". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering feutre vs foudre

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “feutre” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list