Which to use
“fusil” and “fusion” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,661
- “fusil” frequency rank
- #3,538
- “fusion” frequency rank
- 9199
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fusil | fusion |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Petite pièce d’acier avec laquelle on battait un silex pour en tirer du feu. | Liquéfaction d’un corps par l’action de la chaleur. |
Where the eye mixes fusil and fusion
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fusil runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against fusion's 6 (CVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: fusil vs fusion
A purely visual mix-up. fusil (\fy.zi\) and fusion (\fy.zjɔ̃\) 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 9199, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fusil is recorded at frequency rank #5,661, classified as anoun, pronounced \fy.zi\. fusion is at rank #3,538, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fy.zjɔ̃\.
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 9199, this pair ranks #417,470 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fusil vs fusion
Shared letters: fisu. Private to "fusil": l. Private to "fusion": no.
"fusil" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "fusion" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fusil" and "fusion" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "fusil" or "fusion"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fusil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fusion" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #417,470 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fusil" and "fusion" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fuse vs fusil". 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 #417,470 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.