Which to use
“clouer” and “coûter” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,184
- “clouer” frequency rank
- #8,089
- “coûter” frequency rank
- 49273
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clouer | coûter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Fixer avec des clous. | Valoir tel ou tel prix d’achat. |
Where the eye mixes clouer and coûter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: clouer vs coûter
A purely visual mix-up. clouer (\klu.e\) and coûter (\ku.te\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49273, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clouer is recorded at frequency rank #41,184, classified as averb, pronounced \klu.e\. coûter is at rank #8,089, tagged as averb, pronounced \ku.te\.
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 49273, this pair ranks #172,010 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of clouer vs coûter
Shared letters: ceor. Private to "clouer": lu. Private to "coûter": tû.
"clouer" · 6 letters · shape CCVVVC · "coûter" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- clouer ← cclouer · cllouer · cloeur · clouerr · cloure · cluoer · lcouer
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "clouer" for "coûter" ever safe?
Frequency check: "clouer" vs "coûter" - 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 "clouer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "coûter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #172,010 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clouer" and "coûter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clouer vs coter". 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 #172,010 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.