exilvsexoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,503
“exil” frequency rank
#29,769
“exo” frequency rank
36272
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature exil exo
Definition État de celui que l’autorité force à vivre hors de sa patrie, ou qui s’y résout lui-même. Exercice.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set exil and exo apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
exil
3 ch
exo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. exil (\ɛɡ.zil\) and exo (\ɛɡ.zo\) 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 36272, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

exil is recorded at frequency rank #6,503, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛɡ.zil\. exo is at rank #29,769, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛɡ.zo\.

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 36272, this pair ranks #270,733 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of exil vs exo

Shared letters: ex. Private to "exil": il. Private to "exo": o.

"exil" · 4 letters · shape VCVC  ·  "exo" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • exileixl · exill · exli · exxil · xeil

Frequency comparison

exil#6,503
exo#29,769

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "exil" and "exo" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɛɡ.zil\ versus \ɛɡ.zo\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "exil" or "exo"?
"exil" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,503 in our French list, against #29,769 for "exo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering exil vs exo

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “exil” 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