Which to use
“cocu” is an adjective and “cork” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25,931
- “cocu” frequency rank
- #46,088
- “cork” frequency rank
- 72019
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cocu | cork |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dupé, trompé, victime d’infidélité conjugale. | Saut composé d'une rotation faisant passer la planche par dessus la tête. |
Where the eye mixes cocu and cork
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. cocu (CVCV) and cork (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses cocu with cork
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cocu is \kɔ.ky\ while cork is \kɔʁk\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72019, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cocu is recorded at frequency rank #25,931, classified as anadj, pronounced \kɔ.ky\. cork is at rank #46,088, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔʁk\.
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 72019, this pair ranks #45,490 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cocu vs cork
Shared letters: co. Private to "cocu": u. Private to "cork": kr.
"cocu" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "cork" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cocu" for "cork" ever safe?
Frequency check: "cocu" vs "cork" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cocu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cork" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #45,490 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cocu" and "cork" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ciro vs cork". 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 #45,490 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.