Which to use
“foster” and “fouler” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,141
- “foster” frequency rank
- #29,779
- “fouler” frequency rank
- 46920
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | foster | fouler |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Alimenter, nourrir. | Presser quelque chose qui cède, avec les pieds, les mains ou à l’aide d’un mécanisme. |
Where the eye mixes foster and fouler
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. foster (CVCCVC) and fouler (CVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between foster and fouler
A purely visual mix-up. foster (\ˈfɒs.tə\) and fouler (\fu.le\) 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 46920, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
foster is recorded at frequency rank #17,141, classified as averb, pronounced \ˈfɒs.tə\. fouler is at rank #29,779, tagged as averb, pronounced \fu.le\.
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 46920, this pair ranks #191,010 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of foster vs fouler
Shared letters: efor. Private to "foster": st. Private to "fouler": lu.
"foster" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "fouler" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "foster" and "fouler" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "foster" or "fouler"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "foster" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fouler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #191,010 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "foster" and "fouler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fouiner vs fouler". 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 #191,010 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.