coxvscutWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#19,493
“cox” frequency rank
#17,668
“cut” frequency rank
37161
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cox cut
Definition Variété de pommier. Pointage permettant de se qualifier.

Where the eye mixes cox and cut

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
cox
3 ch
cut

Look-alike desk: cox vs cut

A purely visual mix-up. cox (\koks\) and cut (\kœt\) 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 37161, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cox is recorded at frequency rank #19,493, classified as anoun, pronounced \koks\. cut is at rank #17,668, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kœt\.

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 37161, this pair ranks #264,447 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cox vs cut

Shared letters: c. Private to "cox": ox. Private to "cut": tu.

"cox" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "cut" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cox" and "cut" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\koks\ versus \kœt\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cox" or "cut"?
"cut" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,668 in our French list, against #19,493 for "cox". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cox" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #264,447 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cox" and "cut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CCE vs cox". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #264,447 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