cobalt
\kɔ.balt\
The verdict
“cobalt” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #22,520 in French word frequency and used as a noun.
- #22,520
- frequency rank, French
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 8
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Élément chimique de symbole chimique Co et de numéro atomique 27.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | cobalt |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \kɔ.balt\ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #22,520 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 8 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “cobalt” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for cobalt is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \kɔ.balt\. Corpus data places it at rank #22,520 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 9 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for cobalt, with forms such as "cboalt", "ccobalt", and "coablt". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 8 confusable-pair relationships, "coral", "combat", "cobaye", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is cobalt, spelled C-O-B-A-L-T.
Definition
- 1Élément chimique de symbole chimique Co et de numéro atomique 27.
- 2Métal pur de cet élément, dur, blanc-gris à reflets.
- 3Atome (ou, par ellipse, noyau) de cobalt.
- 4Isotope radio-actif du cobalt, utilisé en particulier en radiothérapie, cobalt-60.
- 5Machine à radiothérapie au cobalt-60.
- 6Pigment bleu de cet élément.
- 7Bleu de cobalt.
- 8Variété de canari, de couleur bleu cobalt.
- 9Variété de discus, poisson d’aquariophile originaire d’Amérique du Sud.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: cboalt,ccobalt,coablt,coballt,cobaltt,cobatl,cobbalt,coblat,ocbalt
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cobalt - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "cobalt"?
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Using “cobalt”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is C-O-B-A-L-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \kɔ.balt\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “coral” - see the side-by-side comparison. cobalt vs coral
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.