Which to use
“fondue” and “fougue” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,956
- “fondue” frequency rank
- #23,218
- “fougue” frequency rank
- 41174
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fondue | fougue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Mets à base de fromage fondu dans lequel on trempe des morceaux de pain. | Ardeur naturelle ; grande impétuosité. |
Where the eye mixes fondue and fougue
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fondue (CVCCVV) and fougue (CVVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses fondue with fougue
A purely visual mix-up. fondue (\fɔ̃.dy\) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41174, 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\. 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 41174, this pair ranks #235,074 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fondue vs fougue
Shared letters: efou. Private to "fondue": dn. Private to "fougue": g.
"fondue" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "fougue" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fondue" and "fougue" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "fondue" vs "fougue" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fondue" 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 #235,074 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fondue" and "fougue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fondue vs fondues". 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 #235,074 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.