Which to use
“figue” and “fougue” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,844
- “figue” frequency rank
- #23,218
- “fougue” frequency rank
- 60062
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | figue | fougue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Faux-fruit comestible du figuier, issu de l’inflorescence contenant des akènes qui sont les fruits proprement dits, contenus dans une pulpe molle et sucrée. | Ardeur naturelle ; grande impétuosité. |
Where the eye mixes figue and fougue
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. figue runs 5 letters (CVCVV) against fougue's 6 (CVVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses figue with fougue
A purely visual mix-up. figue (\fiɡ\) and fougue (\fuɡ\) 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 60062, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
figue is recorded at frequency rank #36,844, classified as anoun, pronounced \fiɡ\. fougue is at rank #23,218, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fuɡ\.
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 60062, this pair ranks #99,655 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of figue vs fougue
Shared letters: efgu. Private to "figue": i. Private to "fougue": o.
"figue" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "fougue" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "figue" and "fougue" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "figue" or "fougue" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "figue" and "fougue" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "figue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fougue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #99,655 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "figue" and "fougue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "figées vs figue". 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 #99,655 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.