Which to use
“gâter” and “gouter” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,031
- “gâter” frequency rank
- #29,370
- “gouter” frequency rank
- 55401
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gâter | gouter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Endommager, mettre en mauvais état, abîmer en donnant une mauvaise forme ou autrement. | Exercer le sens du gout sur ce qui a de la saveur. |
Where the eye mixes gâter and gouter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: gâter vs gouter
A purely visual mix-up. gâter (\ɡɑ.te\) and gouter (\ɡu.te\) 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 55401, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gâter is recorded at frequency rank #26,031, classified as averb, pronounced \ɡɑ.te\. gouter is at rank #29,370, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɡu.te\.
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 55401, this pair ranks #127,682 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of gâter vs gouter
Shared letters: egrt. Private to "gâter": â. Private to "gouter": ou.
"gâter" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "gouter" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- gouter ← ggouter · gotuer · gouetr · gouterr · goutre · goutter · guoter · oguter
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "gâter" for "gouter" ever safe?
Frequency check: "gâter" vs "gouter" - which ranks higher?
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 "gâter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gouter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #127,682 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gâter" and "gouter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gouter vs Gruber". 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 #127,682 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.