Which to use
“aboyer” and “avouer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #35,791
- “aboyer” frequency rank
- #4,125
- “avouer” frequency rank
- 39916
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | aboyer | avouer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Faire entendre son cri, en parlant d’un chien. | Confesser et reconnaître qu’une chose est ou n’est pas, témoigner de la vérité. |
Where the eye mixes aboyer and avouer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. aboyer and avouer follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between aboyer and avouer
A purely visual mix-up. aboyer (\a.bwa.je\) and avouer (\a.vwe\) 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 39916, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
aboyer is recorded at frequency rank #35,791, classified as averb, pronounced \a.bwa.je\. avouer is at rank #4,125, tagged as averb, pronounced \a.vwe\.
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 39916, this pair ranks #244,401 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of aboyer vs avouer
Shared letters: aeor. Private to "aboyer": by. Private to "avouer": uv.
"aboyer" · 6 letters · shape VCVVVC · "avouer" · 6 letters · shape VCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "aboyer" for "avouer" ever safe?
Frequency check: "aboyer" vs "avouer" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "aboyer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "avouer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #244,401 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "aboyer" and "avouer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "above vs aboyer". 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 #244,401 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.