Which to use
“costume” and “coutume” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,658
- “costume” frequency rank
- #8,832
- “coutume” frequency rank
- 13490
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | costume | coutume |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Manière spécifique de se vêtir avec une connotation historique ou régionale. | Usage établi ; habitude contractée. |
Where the eye mixes costume and coutume
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. costume (CVCCVCV) and coutume (CVVCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses costume with coutume
A purely visual mix-up. costume (\kɔs.tym\) and coutume (\ku.tym\) 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 - s in “costume” becomes u in “coutume”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13490, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
costume is recorded at frequency rank #4,658, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔs.tym\. coutume is at rank #8,832, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ku.tym\.
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 13490, this pair ranks #400,817 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of costume vs coutume
Shared letters: cemotu. Private to "costume": s. Private to "coutume": -.
"costume" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "coutume" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "costume" for "coutume" ever safe?
Frequency check: "costume" vs "coutume" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "costume" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "coutume" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #400,817 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "costume" and "coutume" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cousue vs coutume". 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 #400,817 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.