Which to use
“fondues” and “fontes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,619
- “fondues” frequency rank
- #46,178
- “fontes” frequency rank
- 91797
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fondues | fontes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de fondue. | Fourreau de cuir pour les pistolets. |
Where the eye mixes fondues and fontes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses fondues with fontes
A purely visual mix-up. fondues (\fɔ̃.dy\) and fontes (\fɔ̃t\) 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 91797, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fondues is recorded at frequency rank #45,619, classified as anoun, pronounced \fɔ̃.dy\. fontes is at rank #46,178, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fɔ̃t\.
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 91797, this pair ranks #3,517 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fondues vs fontes
Shared letters: efnos. Private to "fondues": du. Private to "fontes": t.
"fondues" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "fontes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fondues" for "fontes" ever safe?
Which is more common, "fondues" or "fontes"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "fondues" and "fontes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "fondues" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fontes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #3,517 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fondues" and "fontes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fondeurs 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 #3,517 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.