fourrévsfoutueWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“fourré” and “foutue” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#24,597
“fourré” frequency rank
#14,264
“foutue” frequency rank
38861
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fourré foutue
Definition Vêtu de fourrure. Féminin singulier de foutu.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fourré and foutue apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
fourré
6 ch
foutue

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. fourré (\fu.ʁe\) and foutue (\fu.ty\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38861, 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\. foutue is at rank #14,264, tagged as anadj, pronounced \fu.ty\.

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 38861, this pair ranks #252,291 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fourré vs foutue

Shared letters: fou. Private to "fourré": . Private to "foutue": et.

"fourré" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "foutue" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • foutueffoutue · fotuue · fouteu · fouttue · fouute · fuotue · ofutue

Frequency comparison

fourré#24,597
foutue#14,264

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fourré" and "foutue" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\fu.ʁe\ versus \fu.ty\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fourré" or "foutue"?
"foutue" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,264 in our French list, against #24,597 for "fourré". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fourré vs foutue

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fourré” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list