argovsargotWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“argo” and “argot” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#38,147
“argo” frequency rank
#22,769
“argot” frequency rank
60916
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature argo argot
Definition Argot. Langage de convention utilisé à l’origine par les voleurs, les malfaiteurs.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set argo and argot apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
argo
5 ch
argot

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. argo (\ɑɾ.ɡo\) and argot (\aʁ.ɡo\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “argo” sits inside “argot”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60916, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

argo is recorded at frequency rank #38,147, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɑɾ.ɡo\. argot is at rank #22,769, tagged as anoun, pronounced \aʁ.ɡo\.

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 60916, this pair ranks #95,110 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of argo vs argot

Shared letters: agor. Private to "argo": -. Private to "argot": t.

"argo" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "argot" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • argoarggo · arog · arrgo · rago
  • argotagrot · arggot · argott · argto · arogt · arrgot · ragot

Frequency comparison

argo#38,147
argot#22,769

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "argo" and "argot" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɑɾ.ɡo\ versus \aʁ.ɡo\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "argo" or "argot"?
"argot" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,769 in our French list, against #38,147 for "argo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering argo vs argot

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “argo” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

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