Which to use
“coup” and “cous” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #226
- “coup” frequency rank
- #38,734
- “cous” frequency rank
- 38960
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | coup | cous |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Impression que fait un corps sur un autre en le frappant. | Pierre à aiguiser utilisée par les faucheurs. |
Where the eye mixes coup and cous
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: coup vs cous
A purely visual mix-up. coup (\ku\) and cous (\kus\) 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 - p in “coup” becomes s in “cous”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38960, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
coup is recorded at frequency rank #226, classified as anoun, pronounced \ku\. cous is at rank #38,734, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kus\.
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 38960, this pair ranks #251,563 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of coup vs cous
Shared letters: cou. Private to "coup": p. Private to "cous": s.
"coup" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "cous" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "coup" for "cous" ever safe?
Frequency check: "coup" vs "cous" - which ranks higher?
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 "coup" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cous" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #251,563 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "coup" and "cous" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coupa vs cous". 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 #251,563 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.