Which to use
“coloc” and “colons” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,656
- “coloc” frequency rank
- #8,675
- “colons” frequency rank
- 26331
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | coloc | colons |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Colocataire. | Pluriel de colon. |
Where the eye mixes coloc and colons
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between coloc and colons
A purely visual mix-up. coloc (\ko.lɔk\) and colons (\kɔ.lɔ̃\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26331, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
coloc is recorded at frequency rank #17,656, classified as anoun, pronounced \ko.lɔk\. colons is at rank #8,675, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ.lɔ̃\.
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 26331, this pair ranks #335,663 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of coloc vs colons
Shared letters: clo. Private to "coloc": -. Private to "colons": ns.
"coloc" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "colons" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "coloc" for "colons" ever safe?
Which is more common, "coloc" or "colons"?
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 "coloc" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "colons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #335,663 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "coloc" and "colons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coloc vs coon". 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 #335,663 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.