coulissevscuisseWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“coulisse” and “cuisse” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#23,499
“coulisse” frequency rank
#9,462
“cuisse” frequency rank
32961
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature coulisse cuisse
Definition Longue rainure par laquelle on fait glisser, aller et revenir un châssis, une fenêtre, une porte, un tiroir, etc. Partie du membre inférieur allant de la hanche au genou.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set coulisse and cuisse apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
coulisse
6 ch
cuisse

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. coulisse (\ku.lis\) and cuisse (\kɥis\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32961, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

coulisse is recorded at frequency rank #23,499, classified as anoun, pronounced \ku.lis\. cuisse is at rank #9,462, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɥis\.

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 32961, this pair ranks #293,809 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of coulisse vs cuisse

Shared letters: ceisu. Private to "coulisse": lo. Private to "cuisse": -.

"coulisse" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCCV  ·  "cuisse" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • coulisseccoulisse · coluisse · couilsse · coulise · coullisse · coulsise · cuolisse · oculisse
  • cuisseccuisse · ciusse · cuise · cuises · cusise · ucisse

Frequency comparison

coulisse#23,499
cuisse#9,462

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "coulisse" and "cuisse" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ku.lis\ versus \kɥis\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "coulisse" or "cuisse"?
"cuisse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,462 in our French list, against #23,499 for "coulisse". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering coulisse vs cuisse

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “coulisse” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list