Which to use
“boyard” and “boyaux” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,905
- “boyard” frequency rank
- #34,906
- “boyaux” frequency rank
- 69811
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | boyard | boyaux |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nom qu’on donnait aux seigneurs en Russie ou en Transylvanie. | Pluriel de boyau. |
Where the eye mixes boyard and boyaux
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. boyard (CVVVCC) and boyaux (CVVVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between boyard and boyaux
A purely visual mix-up. boyard (\bɔ.jaʁ\) and boyaux (\bwa.jo\) 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 69811, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
boyard is recorded at frequency rank #34,905, classified as anoun, pronounced \bɔ.jaʁ\. boyaux is at rank #34,906, tagged as anoun, pronounced \bwa.jo\.
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 69811, this pair ranks #53,728 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of boyard vs boyaux
Shared letters: aboy. Private to "boyard": dr. Private to "boyaux": ux.
"boyard" · 6 letters · shape CVVVCC · "boyaux" · 6 letters · shape CVVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "boyard" for "boyaux" ever safe?
Frequency check: "boyard" vs "boyaux" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "boyard" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "boyaux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #53,728 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "boyard" and "boyaux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "boulard vs boyard". 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 #53,728 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.