Which to use
“cousines” and “cuisines” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,317
- “cousines” frequency rank
- #13,765
- “cuisines” frequency rank
- 40082
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cousines | cuisines |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de cousine. | Pluriel de cuisine. |
Where the eye mixes cousines and cuisines
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. cousines and cuisines follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses cousines with cuisines
A purely visual mix-up. cousines (\ku.zin\) and cuisines (\kɥi.zin\) 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 40082, 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\. cuisines is at rank #13,765, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɥi.zin\.
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 40082, this pair ranks #243,181 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cousines vs cuisines
Shared letters: ceinsu. Private to "cousines": o. Private to "cuisines": -.
"cousines" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCVC · "cuisines" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cousines" for "cuisines" ever safe?
Which is more common, "cousines" or "cuisines"?
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 "cousines" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cuisines" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #243,181 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cousines" and "cuisines" 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 #243,181 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.