Which to use
“foudre” is a noun and “fourbe” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,830
- “foudre” frequency rank
- #26,010
- “fourbe” frequency rank
- 33840
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | foudre | fourbe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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. | Qui emploie, pour tromper, une adresse perfide. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set foudre and fourbe apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
foudre and fourbe 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 33840, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
foudre is recorded at frequency rank #7,830, classified as anoun, pronounced \fudʁ\. fourbe is at rank #26,010, tagged as anadj, pronounced \fuʁb\.
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 33840, this pair ranks #287,921 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "foudre" and "fourbe" be used interchangeably?
Remembering foudre vs fourbe
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “foudre”; for an adjective, it's “fourbe”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “foudre” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable