coûtsvscroûteConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#3,450
“coûts” frequency rank
#12,139
“croûte” frequency rank
15589
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature coûts croûte
Definition Pluriel de coût. Pellicule supérieure, extérieure et solide couvrant une partie plus molle, sur un aliment ou une planète par exemple.

Where the eye mixes coûts and croûte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. coûts runs 5 letters (CVVCC) against croûte's 6 (CCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
coûts
6 ch
croûte

Look-alike desk: coûts vs croûte

A purely visual mix-up. coûts (\ku\) and croûte (\kʁut\) 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 15589, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

coûts is recorded at frequency rank #3,450, classified as anoun, pronounced \ku\. croûte is at rank #12,139, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kʁut\.

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 15589, this pair ranks #391,704 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of coûts vs croûte

Shared letters: cotû. Private to "coûts": s. Private to "croûte": er.

"coûts" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "croûte" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "coûts" and "croûte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\ku\ versus \kʁut\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "coûts" or "croûte"?
"coûts" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,450 in our French list, against #12,139 for "croûte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "coûts" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "croûte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #391,704 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "coûts" and "croûte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "croce vs croûte". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #391,704 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