Which to use
“foutu” is an adjective and “fûts” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,152
- “foutu” frequency rank
- #21,949
- “fûts” frequency rank
- 26101
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | foutu | fûts |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Hors d’usage, cassé. | Pluriel de fût. |
Where the eye mixes foutu and fûts
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between foutu and fûts
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: foutu is \fu.ty\ while fûts is \fy\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 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 26101, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
foutu is recorded at frequency rank #4,152, classified as anadj, pronounced \fu.ty\. fûts is at rank #21,949, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fy\.
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 26101, this pair ranks #337,107 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of foutu vs fûts
Shared letters: ft. Private to "foutu": ou. Private to "fûts": sû.
"foutu" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "fûts" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- foutu ← ffoutu · fotuu · fouttu · fouut · fuotu · ofutu
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "foutu" and "fûts" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "foutu" or "fûts"?
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 "foutu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fûts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #337,107 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "foutu" and "fûts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fouets vs fûts". 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 #337,107 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.