Which to use
“gnome” and “gomme” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,461
- “gnome” frequency rank
- #13,802
- “gomme” frequency rank
- 41263
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gnome | gomme |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Génie de la terre, laid et de très petite taille, considéré comme le gardien des trésors enfouis, des mines, des pierres précieuses. | Exsudat végétal riche en polysaccharides, sécrété naturellement ou à la suite d’une blessure par certains arbres, notamment des légumineuses, et utilisé comme épaississant, émulsifiant ou liant dans des préparations alimentaires, pharmaceutiques ou industrielles. |
Where the eye mixes gnome and gomme
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses gnome with gomme
A purely visual mix-up. gnome (\ɡnom\) and gomme (\ɡɔm\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41263, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gnome is recorded at frequency rank #27,461, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɡnom\. gomme is at rank #13,802, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡɔm\.
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 41263, this pair ranks #234,379 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of gnome vs gomme
Shared letters: egmo. Private to "gnome": n. Private to "gomme": -.
"gnome" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "gomme" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "gnome" and "gomme" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "gnome" or "gomme"?
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 "gnome" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gomme" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #234,379 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gnome" and "gomme" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gnome vs gobe". 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 #234,379 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.