docksvsdoucesWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: docks is a noun, douces is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“docks” is a noun and “douces” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#25,619
“docks” frequency rank
#9,153
“douces” frequency rank
34772
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature docks douces
Definition Pluriel de dock. Féminin pluriel de doux.

Where the eye mixes docks and douces

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
docks
6 ch
douces

Why the eye confuses docks with douces

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: docks is \dɔk\ while douces is \dus\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34772, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

docks is recorded at frequency rank #25,619, classified as anoun, pronounced \dɔk\. douces is at rank #9,153, tagged as anadj, pronounced \dus\.

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 34772, this pair ranks #281,496 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of docks vs douces

Shared letters: cdos. Private to "docks": k. Private to "douces": eu.

"docks" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "douces" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • docksdcoks · ddocks · doccks · dockks · dockss · docsk · dokcs · odcks
  • doucesddouces · docues · doucces · doucess · doucse · douecs · duoces · oduces

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "docks" and "douces" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "docks" is a noun and "douces" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "docks" vs "douces" - which ranks higher?
"douces" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,153 in our French list, against #25,619 for "docks". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "docks" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "douces" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #281,496 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "docks" and "douces" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "docks vs domus". 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 #281,496 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