Which to use
“bouton” and “bouts” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,405
- “bouton” frequency rank
- #8,966
- “bouts” frequency rank
- 13371
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bouton | bouts |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Petite pièce de diverses matières, ordinairement ronde ou plate, quelquefois bombée ou en boule, qui sert généralement à retenir ensemble différentes parties d’un vêtement et que l’on passe, à cet effet, dans les fentes appelées boutonnières, dans les ganses ou dans les brides. | Pluriel de bout. |
Where the eye mixes bouton and bouts
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. bouton runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against bouts's 5 (CVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: bouton vs bouts
A purely visual mix-up. bouton (\bu.tɔ̃\) and bouts (\bu\) 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 13371, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bouton is recorded at frequency rank #4,405, classified as anoun, pronounced \bu.tɔ̃\. bouts is at rank #8,966, tagged as anoun, pronounced \bu\.
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 13371, this pair ranks #401,294 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of bouton vs bouts
Shared letters: botu. Private to "bouton": n. Private to "bouts": s.
"bouton" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "bouts" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bouton" for "bouts" ever safe?
Frequency check: "bouton" vs "bouts" - 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 "bouton" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bouts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #401,294 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bouton" and "bouts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "boers vs bouts". 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 #401,294 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.