Which to use
“abats” and “abcès” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,618
- “abats” frequency rank
- #27,675
- “abcès” frequency rank
- 67293
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abats | abcès |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de abat. | Poche de pus dans une cavité formée aux dépens des tissus environnants. |
Where the eye mixes abats and abcès
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. abats (VCVCC) and abcès (VCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: abats vs abcès
A purely visual mix-up. abats (\a.ba\) and abcès (\ap.sɛ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67293, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
abats is recorded at frequency rank #39,618, classified as anoun, pronounced \a.ba\. abcès is at rank #27,675, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ap.sɛ\.
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 67293, this pair ranks #64,035 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of abats vs abcès
Shared letters: abs. Private to "abats": t. Private to "abcès": cè.
"abats" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC · "abcès" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- abats ← aabts · abast · abatss · abatts · abbats · abtas · baats
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "abats" and "abcès" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "abats" or "abcès" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "abats" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "abcès" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #64,035 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abats" and "abcès" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aba vs abats". 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 #64,035 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.