Which to use
“double” is an adjective and “doute” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #844
- “double” frequency rank
- #489
- “doute” frequency rank
- 1333
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | double | doute |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui vaut, qui pèse ou qui contient deux fois autant. | Incertitude sur l’existence ou la vérité d’une chose, sur l'exactitude ou la fausseté d’une idée, d’une affirmation. |
Where the eye mixes double and doute
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between double and doute
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: double is \dubl\ while doute is \dut\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1333, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
double is recorded at frequency rank #844, classified as anadj, pronounced \dubl\. doute is at rank #489, tagged as anoun, pronounced \dut\.
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 1333, this pair ranks #438,252 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of double vs doute
Shared letters: deou. Private to "double": bl. Private to "doute": t.
"double" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "doute" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "double" for "doute" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "double" or "doute" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "double" and "doute" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "double" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "doute" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #438,252 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "double" and "doute" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dorure vs doute". 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 #438,252 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.