Which to use
“fougue” and “fugue” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,218
- “fougue” frequency rank
- #22,869
- “fugue” frequency rank
- 46087
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fougue | fugue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ardeur naturelle ; grande impétuosité. | Fuite. |
Where the eye mixes fougue and fugue
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. fougue runs 6 letters (CVVCVV) against fugue's 5 (CVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: fougue vs fugue
A purely visual mix-up. fougue (\fuɡ\) and fugue (\fyɡ\) 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 46087, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fougue is recorded at frequency rank #23,218, classified as anoun, pronounced \fuɡ\. fugue is at rank #22,869, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fyɡ\.
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 46087, this pair ranks #197,699 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fougue vs fugue
Shared letters: efgu. Private to "fougue": o. Private to "fugue": -.
"fougue" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVV · "fugue" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fougue" for "fugue" ever safe?
Frequency check: "fougue" vs "fugue" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fougue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fugue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #197,699 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fougue" and "fugue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fage vs fugue". 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 #197,699 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.