Which to use
“coiffe” and “coiffure” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,964
- “coiffe” frequency rank
- #7,668
- “coiffure” frequency rank
- 26632
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | coiffe | coiffure |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Couvre-chef destiné à couvrir la tête des femmes. | Manière dont on arrange les cheveux selon le pays et la mode. |
Where the eye mixes coiffe and coiffure
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. coiffe runs 6 letters (CVVCCV) against coiffure's 8 (CVVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: coiffe vs coiffure
A purely visual mix-up. coiffe (\kwaf\) and coiffure (\kwa.fyʁ\) 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 26632, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
coiffe is recorded at frequency rank #18,964, classified as anoun, pronounced \kwaf\. coiffure is at rank #7,668, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kwa.fyʁ\.
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 26632, this pair ranks #333,777 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of coiffe vs coiffure
Shared letters: cefio. Private to "coiffe": -. Private to "coiffure": ru.
"coiffe" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "coiffure" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "coiffe" and "coiffure" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "coiffe" or "coiffure"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "coiffe" and "coiffure" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "coiffe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "coiffure" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #333,777 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "coiffe" and "coiffure" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "codifié vs coiffe". 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 #333,777 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.