Which to use
“fumes” and “fuse” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,870
- “fumes” frequency rank
- #46,778
- “fuse” frequency rank
- 69648
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fumes | fuse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Deuxième personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de fumer. | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent du verbe fuser. |
Where the eye mixes fumes and fuse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. fumes runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against fuse's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: fumes vs fuse
A purely visual mix-up. fumes (\fym\) and fuse (\fyz\) 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 69648, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fumes is recorded at frequency rank #22,870, classified as averb, pronounced \fym\. fuse is at rank #46,778, tagged as averb, pronounced \fyz\.
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 69648, this pair ranks #54,351 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fumes vs fuse
Shared letters: efsu. Private to "fumes": m. Private to "fuse": -.
"fumes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "fuse" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fumes" for "fuse" ever safe?
Frequency check: "fumes" vs "fuse" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "fumes" and "fuse" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "fumes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fuse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #54,351 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fumes" and "fuse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fee vs fuse". 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 #54,351 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.