cousinesvscoussinsConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#26,317
“cousines” frequency rank
#20,103
“coussins” frequency rank
46420
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cousines coussins
Definition Pluriel de cousine. Pluriel de coussin.

Where the eye mixes cousines and coussins

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. cousines (CVVCVCVC) and coussins (CVVCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
cousines
8 ch
coussins

Look-alike desk: cousines vs coussins

A purely visual mix-up. cousines (\ku.zin\) and coussins (\ku.sɛ̃\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46420, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cousines is recorded at frequency rank #26,317, classified as anoun, pronounced \ku.zin\. coussins is at rank #20,103, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ku.sɛ̃\.

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 46420, this pair ranks #195,087 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cousines vs coussins

Shared letters: cinosu. Private to "cousines": e. Private to "coussins": -.

"cousines" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCVC  ·  "coussins" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cousines ← ccousines · cosuines · couisnes · cousiens · cousiness · cousinnes · cousinse · cousnies
  • coussins ← ccoussins · cosusins · cousisns · coussinns · coussinss · coussisn · coussnis · cuossins

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cousines" and "coussins" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ku.zin\ versus \ku.sɛ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "cousines" vs "coussins" - which ranks higher?
"coussins" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,103 in our French list, against #26,317 for "cousines". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "cousines" and "coussins" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cousines" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "coussins" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #195,087 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cousines" and "coussins" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "consignés vs cousines". 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 #195,087 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list