Which to use
“fondue” and “foudre” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,956
- “fondue” frequency rank
- #7,830
- “foudre” frequency rank
- 25786
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fondue | foudre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Mets à base de fromage fondu dans lequel on trempe des morceaux de pain. | 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 fondue and foudre apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
fondue and foudre form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25786, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fondue is recorded at frequency rank #17,956, classified as anoun, pronounced \fɔ̃.dy\. 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 25786, this pair ranks #338,856 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fondue" and "foudre" be used interchangeably?
Remembering fondue 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 “fondue” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable