coût vs croît, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#1,767
“coût” frequency rank: #18,977
“croît” frequency rank: 20744
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	coût	croît
Definition	Ce qu’une chose coûte ; son prix de revient.	Augmentation d’un troupeau par la naissance des petits.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set coût and croît apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

coût

5 ch

croît

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. coût (\ku\) and croît (\kʁwa\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20744, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

coût is recorded at frequency rank #1,767, classified as anoun, pronounced \ku\. croît is at rank #18,977, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kʁwa\.

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 20744, this pair ranks #366,711 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of coût vs croît

Shared letters: cot. Private to "coût": û. Private to "croît": rî.

"coût" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "croît" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC

Frequency comparison

coût#1,767

croît#18,977

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "coût" and "croît" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (\ku\ versus \kʁwa\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "coût" or "croît"?

"coût" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,767 in our French list, against #18,977 for "croît". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering coût vs croît

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 “coût” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable