Which to use
“cost” and “cotte” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,234
- “cost” frequency rank
- #43,365
- “cotte” frequency rank
- 57599
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cost | cotte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Coût. | Jupe. |
Where the eye mixes cost and cotte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses cost with cotte
A purely visual mix-up. cost (\kɒst\) and cotte (\kɔt\) 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 57599, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cost is recorded at frequency rank #14,234, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɒst\. cotte is at rank #43,365, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔt\.
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 57599, this pair ranks #114,056 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cost vs cotte
Shared letters: cot. Private to "cost": s. Private to "cotte": e.
"cost" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "cotte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cost" and "cotte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "cost" vs "cotte" - which ranks higher?
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 "cost" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cotte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #114,056 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cost" and "cotte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Cosette vs cotte". 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 #114,056 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.