bauxvsbazTell them apart

Which to use

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

#18,408
“baux” frequency rank
#43,802
“baz” frequency rank
62210
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature baux baz
Definition Pluriel de bau. Basse.

Where the eye mixes baux and baz

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. baux runs 4 letters (CVVC) against baz's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
baux
3 ch
baz

Look-alike desk: baux vs baz

A purely visual mix-up. baux (\bo\) and baz (\ˈbɑːs\) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62210, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

baux is recorded at frequency rank #18,408, classified as anoun, pronounced \bo\. baz is at rank #43,802, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈbɑːs\.

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 62210, this pair ranks #88,292 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of baux vs baz

Shared letters: ab. Private to "baux": ux. Private to "baz": z.

"baux" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "baz" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • baux ← abux · bauxx · baxu · bbaux · buax

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "baux" and "baz" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\bo\ versus \ˈbɑːs\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "baux" or "baz"?
"baux" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,408 in our French list, against #43,802 for "baz". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "baux" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "baz" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #88,292 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "baux" and "baz" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "baz vs ber". 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 #88,292 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list