Which to use
“fourré” is an adjective and “fourrure” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #24,597
- “fourré” frequency rank
- #11,591
- “fourrure” frequency rank
- 36188
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fourré | fourrure |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Vêtu de fourrure. | Peau densément recouverte de poils de certains mammifères. |
Where the eye mixes fourré and fourrure
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses fourré with fourrure
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fourré is \fu.ʁe\ while fourrure is \fu.ʁyʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36188, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fourré is recorded at frequency rank #24,597, classified as anadj, pronounced \fu.ʁe\. fourrure is at rank #11,591, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fu.ʁyʁ\.
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 36188, this pair ranks #271,394 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fourré vs fourrure
Shared letters: foru. Private to "fourré": é. Private to "fourrure": e.
"fourré" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "fourrure" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- fourrure ← ffourrure · forurure · fourrrue · fourruer · fourrurre · fourure · foururre · fuorrure
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fourré" and "fourrure" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "fourré" or "fourrure" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "fourré" and "fourrure" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "fourré" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fourrure" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #271,394 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fourré" and "fourrure" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fournée vs fourré". 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 #271,394 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.