fleur vs fleuri, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“fleur” is a noun and “fleuri” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,535
“fleur” frequency rank: #20,449
“fleuri” frequency rank: 23984
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	fleur	fleuri
Definition	Organe reproducteur des angiospermes (ou « plantes à fleurs »), constitué des organes de la reproduction sexuée (étamines, carpelles) et de leurs enveloppes protectrices (sépales, pétales).	Qui est couvert de fleurs.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fleur and fleuri apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

fleur

6 ch

fleuri

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

fleur and fleuri form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “fleur” sits inside “fleuri” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23984, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fleur is recorded at frequency rank #3,535, classified as anoun, pronounced \flœʁ\. fleuri is at rank #20,449, tagged as anadj, pronounced \flœ.ʁi\.

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 23984, this pair ranks #349,326 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

fleur#3,535

fleuri#20,449

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fleur" and "fleuri" be used interchangeably?

No, "fleur" and "fleuri" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering fleur vs fleuri

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “fleur”; for an adjective, it's “fleuri”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fleur” entry
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