Which to use
“cagoule” and “coule” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,792
- “cagoule” frequency rank
- #6,283
- “coule” frequency rank
- 30075
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cagoule | coule |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Sorte de vêtement de moine, ample et sans manches. Cuculle. | Manteau à larges manches porté par les religieux et religieuses. Seul celui des moines a une capuche. |
Where the eye mixes cagoule and coule
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. cagoule runs 7 letters (CVCVVCV) against coule's 5 (CVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses cagoule with coule
A purely visual mix-up. cagoule (\ka.ɡul\) and coule (\kul\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30075, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cagoule is recorded at frequency rank #23,792, classified as anoun, pronounced \ka.ɡul\. coule is at rank #6,283, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kul\.
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 30075, this pair ranks #312,625 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cagoule vs coule
Shared letters: celou. Private to "cagoule": ag. Private to "coule": -.
"cagoule" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV · "coule" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cagoule" for "coule" ever safe?
Frequency check: "cagoule" vs "coule" - 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 "cagoule" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "coule" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #312,625 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cagoule" and "coule" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cagoule vs cagoulés". 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 #312,625 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.