Which to use
“alt” is an adjective and “aur” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,561
- “alt” frequency rank
- #49,504
- “aur” frequency rank
- 65065
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | alt | aur |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Vieux, vieille, âgé, âgée. | Or. Élément chimique de numéro atomique 79 et de symbole Au qui fait partie des métaux de transition. |
Where the eye mixes alt and aur
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. alt (VCC) and aur (VVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses alt with aur
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: alt is \alt\ while aur is \ˈawɾ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65065, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
alt is recorded at frequency rank #15,561, classified as anadj, pronounced \alt\. aur is at rank #49,504, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈawɾ\.
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 65065, this pair ranks #74,015 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of alt vs aur
Shared letters: a. Private to "alt": lt. Private to "aur": ru.
"alt" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "aur" · 3 letters · shape VVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "alt" for "aur" ever safe?
Which is more common, "alt" or "aur"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "alt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "aur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #74,015 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "alt" and "aur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ahn vs aur". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #74,015 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.