Which to use
“coiffer” is a verb and “coiffure” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #24,908
- “coiffer” frequency rank
- #7,668
- “coiffure” frequency rank
- 32576
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | coiffer | coiffure |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Couvrir la tête de quelqu’un, y mettre quelque chose. | Manière dont on arrange les cheveux selon le pays et la mode. |
Where the eye mixes coiffer and coiffure
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. coiffer runs 7 letters (CVVCCVC) against coiffure's 8 (CVVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: coiffer vs coiffure
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: coiffer is \kwa.fe\ while coiffure is \kwa.fyʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32576, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
coiffer is recorded at frequency rank #24,908, classified as averb, pronounced \kwa.fe\. 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 32576, this pair ranks #296,364 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of coiffer vs coiffure
Shared letters: cefior. Private to "coiffer": -. Private to "coiffure": u.
"coiffer" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC · "coiffure" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "coiffer" and "coiffure" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "coiffer" or "coiffure" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "coiffer" 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 #296,364 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "coiffer" and "coiffure" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coiffer vs coiffeurs". 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 #296,364 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.