Which to use
“fouille” and “fouillis” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,056
- “fouille” frequency rank
- #43,950
- “fouillis” frequency rank
- 55006
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fouille | fouillis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ouverture que l’on pratique dans la terre pour mettre à découvert ce qui y est enfermé ou pour faire les fondations d’une maison, pour creuser une mine, un canal, etc. | Entassement d'éléments disparates, pêle-mêle, juxtaposés par hasard, ou sans ordre, sans cohérence, sans méthode, sans intention clairement définie. |
Where the eye mixes fouille and fouillis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. fouille runs 7 letters (CVVVCCV) against fouillis's 8 (CVVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: fouille vs fouillis
A purely visual mix-up. fouille (\fuj\) and fouillis (\fu.ji\) 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 55006, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fouille is recorded at frequency rank #11,056, classified as anoun, pronounced \fuj\. fouillis is at rank #43,950, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fu.ji\.
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 55006, this pair ranks #130,261 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fouille vs fouillis
Shared letters: filou. Private to "fouille": e. Private to "fouillis": s.
"fouille" · 7 letters · shape CVVVCCV · "fouillis" · 8 letters · shape CVVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fouille" for "fouillis" ever safe?
Which is more common, "fouille" or "fouillis"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "fouille" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fouillis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #130,261 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fouille" and "fouillis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "feuillus vs fouillis". 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 #130,261 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.