Which to use
“côte” and “cox” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,288
- “côte” frequency rank
- #19,493
- “cox” frequency rank
- 20781
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | côte | cox |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Chacun des os qui forment la cage thoracique. | Variété de pommier. |
Where the eye mixes côte and cox
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. côte runs 4 letters (CVCV) against cox's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses côte with cox
A purely visual mix-up. côte (\kot\) and cox (\koks\) 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 20781, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
côte is recorded at frequency rank #1,288, classified as anoun, pronounced \kot\. cox is at rank #19,493, tagged as anoun, pronounced \koks\.
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 20781, this pair ranks #366,538 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of côte vs cox
Shared letters: c. Private to "côte": etô. Private to "cox": ox.
"côte" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "cox" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "côte" and "cox" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "côte" or "cox" show up more?
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 "côte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cox" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #366,538 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "côte" and "cox" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CCE vs cox". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #366,538 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.