douxvsdoxaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: doux is a adjective, doxa is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#2,316
“doux” frequency rank
#47,842
“doxa” frequency rank
50158
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature doux doxa
Definition Agréable au toucher. Ensemble, plus ou moins homogène, de préjugés populaires, de présuppositions généralement admises et évaluées positivement ou négativement, sur lesquelles se fonde toute forme de communication.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set doux and doxa apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
doux
4 ch
doxa

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: doux is \du\ while doxa is \dɔk.sa\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50158, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

doux is recorded at frequency rank #2,316, classified as anadj, pronounced \du\. doxa is at rank #47,842, tagged as anoun, pronounced \dɔk.sa\.

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 50158, this pair ranks #164,830 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of doux vs doxa

Shared letters: dox. Private to "doux": u. Private to "doxa": a.

"doux" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "doxa" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • douxddoux · douxx · doxu · duox · odux
  • doxaddoxa · doax · doxxa · dxoa · odxa

Frequency comparison

doux#2,316
doxa#47,842

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "doux" and "doxa" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "doux" is an adjective and "doxa" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "doux" or "doxa"?
"doux" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,316 in our French list, against #47,842 for "doxa". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering doux vs doxa

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “doux”; for a noun, it's “doxa”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “doux” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list