Which to use
“colts” and “cous” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #43,350
- “colts” frequency rank
- #38,734
- “cous” frequency rank
- 82084
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | colts | cous |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de colt. | Pierre à aiguiser utilisée par les faucheurs. |
Where the eye mixes colts and cous
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses colts with cous
A purely visual mix-up. colts (\kɔlt\) and cous (\kus\) 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 82084, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
colts is recorded at frequency rank #43,350, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔlt\. cous is at rank #38,734, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kus\.
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 82084, this pair ranks #17,456 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of colts vs cous
Shared letters: cos. Private to "colts": lt. Private to "cous": u.
"colts" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "cous" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "colts" for "cous" ever safe?
Which is more common, "colts" or "cous"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "colts" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cous" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #17,456 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "colts" and "cous" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "colla vs colts". 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 #17,456 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.