Which to use
“cotte” and “coûts” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #43,365
- “cotte” frequency rank
- #3,450
- “coûts” frequency rank
- 46815
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cotte | coûts |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Jupe. | Pluriel de coût. |
Where the eye mixes cotte and coûts
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between cotte and coûts
A purely visual mix-up. cotte (\kɔt\) and coûts (\ku\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46815, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cotte is recorded at frequency rank #43,365, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔt\. coûts is at rank #3,450, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ku\.
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 46815, this pair ranks #191,854 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cotte vs coûts
Shared letters: cot. Private to "cotte": e. Private to "coûts": sû.
"cotte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "coûts" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cotte ← ccotte · cotet · ctote · octte
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cotte" and "coûts" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "cotte" or "coûts" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cotte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "coûts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #191,854 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cotte" and "coûts" 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 #191,854 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.