Which to use
“coûter” is a verb and “cutter” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,089
- “coûter” frequency rank
- #31,432
- “cutter” frequency rank
- 39521
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | coûter | cutter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Valoir tel ou tel prix d’achat. | Instrument muni d’une lame fixe, rétractable ou pliante, très tranchante. Certains modèles possèdent des lames pré-découpées en morceaux tranchants successifs. On l'utilise pour découper du papier, du carton, du plastique, etc. |
Where the eye mixes coûter and cutter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between coûter and cutter
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: coûter is \ku.te\ while cutter is \kœ.tœʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39521, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
coûter is recorded at frequency rank #8,089, classified as averb, pronounced \ku.te\. cutter is at rank #31,432, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kœ.tœʁ\.
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 39521, this pair ranks #247,341 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of coûter vs cutter
Shared letters: cert. Private to "coûter": oû. Private to "cutter": u.
"coûter" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "cutter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cutter ← ccutter · ctuter · cuter · cutetr · cutterr · cuttre · uctter
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "coûter" and "cutter" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "coûter" vs "cutter" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "coûter" and "cutter" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "coûter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cutter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #247,341 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "coûter" and "cutter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cotte vs cutter". 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 #247,341 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.