coiffe

\kwaf\

/\kwaf\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“coiffe” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #18,964 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#18,964
frequency rank, French
6
letters
6
tracked misspellings
12
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Couvre-chef destiné à couvrir la tête des femmes.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

coiffe vs confie
67% similar
coiffe vs coince
67% similar
coiffe vs coiffer
86% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for coiffe
PropertyValue
Headwordcoiffe
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\kwaf\
Letters6
Frequency rank#18,964
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs12
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “coiffe” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). coiffe lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for coiffe is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \kwaf\. Corpus data places it at rank #18,964 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 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for coiffe, with forms such as "ccoiffe", "cioffe", and "cofife". 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 12 confusable-pair relationships, "confie", "coince", "coiffer", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is coiffe, spelled C-O-I-F-F-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Couvre-chef destiné à couvrir la tête des femmes.
  2. 2
    Bonnet, garniture intérieure d'un casque, d'un chapeau, etc.
  3. 3
    Membrane que quelques enfants ont sur la tête en venant au monde.
  4. 4
    Enveloppe membraneuse qui recouvre l’urne des mousses, calyptre.
  5. 5
    Toute enveloppe qu’on applique à l’extrémité d’un objet.
  6. 6
    Courte séquence nucléotidique ajoutée, par modification post-transcriptionnelle, à l’extrémité 5' de l’ARN messager chez les eucaryotes.
  7. 7
    Rebord incurvé qui surmonte le dos d'un volume, en tête et queue. On la façonne à partir du rempli de peau.
  8. 8
    Extrémité antérieure, à profil aérodynamique, d’un lanceur ou d’une fusée-sonde destinée à assurer la protection de la charge utile, au début de la séquence de vol.
  9. 9
    Tête, cerveau.

This word in other languages

headdress(English)Kappe(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ccoiffe,cioffe,cofife,coife,coifef,ociffe

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of coiffe - 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.

ccoiffe1cioffe2cofife2coife1coifef2ociffe2
Edit distance from "coiffe"

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 "coiffe"?
"coiffe" is spelled C-O-I-F-F-E. The IPA pronunciation is \kwaf\.
What does "coiffe" mean?
As a noun, "coiffe" means: Couvre-chef destiné à couvrir la tête des femmes.
What words are commonly confused with "coiffe"?
"coiffe" is commonly confused with "confie", "coince", "coiffer". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "coiffe"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "coiffe" is \kwaf\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "coiffe" come from?
"coiffe" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “coiffe”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is C-O-I-F-F-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \kwaf\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “confie” - see the side-by-side comparison. coiffe vs confie
  • 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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list