Which to use
“roux” is an adjective and “ru” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,076
- “roux” frequency rank
- #16,467
- “ru” frequency rank
- 21543
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | roux | ru |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | D’une couleur proche de l’orange, souvent en parlant des cheveux. #AD4F09 | Petit ruisseau. |
Where the eye mixes roux and ru
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: roux vs ru
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: roux is \ʁu\ while ru is \ʁy\. 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 21543, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
roux is recorded at frequency rank #5,076, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʁu\. ru is at rank #16,467, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁy\.
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 21543, this pair ranks #362,624 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of roux vs ru
Shared letters: ru. Private to "roux": ox. Private to "ru": -.
"roux" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "ru" · 2 letters · shape CV
Known mistypes of this pair
- roux ← orux · rouxx · roxu · rroux · ruox
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "roux" for "ru" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "roux" or "ru" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "roux" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ru" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #362,624 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "roux" and "ru" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rog vs ru". 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 #362,624 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.