Which to use
“cordiale” and “coriace” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,249
- “cordiale” frequency rank
- #28,895
- “coriace” frequency rank
- 66144
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cordiale | coriace |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de cordial. | Qui est dur comme du cuir, et difficile à mâcher, en parlant d'un aliment. |
Where the eye mixes cordiale and coriace
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. cordiale runs 8 letters (CVCCVVCV) against coriace's 7 (CVCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses cordiale with coriace
A purely visual mix-up. cordiale (\kɔʁ.djal\) and coriace (\kɔ.ʁjas\) 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 66144, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cordiale is recorded at frequency rank #37,249, classified as anadj, pronounced \kɔʁ.djal\. coriace is at rank #28,895, tagged as anadj, pronounced \kɔ.ʁjas\.
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 66144, this pair ranks #69,087 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cordiale vs coriace
Shared letters: aceior. Private to "cordiale": dl. Private to "coriace": -.
"cordiale" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV · "coriace" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cordiale" for "coriace" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "cordiale" or "coriace" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cordiale" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "coriace" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #69,087 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cordiale" and "coriace" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cardinale vs cordiale". 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 #69,087 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.