Which to use
“cont” and “cost” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #44,949
- “cont” frequency rank
- #14,234
- “cost” frequency rank
- 59183
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cont | cost |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Compte. | Coût. |
Where the eye mixes cont and cost
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between cont and cost
A purely visual mix-up. cont (\ˈkont\) and cost (\kɒst\) 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 a single letter - n in “cont” becomes s in “cost”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59183, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cont is recorded at frequency rank #44,949, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈkont\. cost is at rank #14,234, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɒst\.
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 59183, this pair ranks #104,587 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cont vs cost
Shared letters: cot. Private to "cont": n. Private to "cost": s.
"cont" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "cost" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cont" and "cost" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "cont" or "cost"?
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 "cont" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cost" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #104,587 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cont" and "cost" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "conde vs cont". 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 #104,587 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.