Which to use
“joie” is a noun and “jolis” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,820
- “joie” frequency rank
- #10,182
- “jolis” frequency rank
- 12002
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | joie | jolis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Sentiment de bonheur, de satisfaction vive et intense qui vient du plaisir que l'on a à agir, à accomplir non pas une tâche répétitive, mais de contribuer à un certain progrès qui est empreint d'un caractère spirituel philosophique, scientifique, religieux ou esthétique. | Masculin pluriel de joli. |
Where the eye mixes joie and jolis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses joie with jolis
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: joie is \ʒwa\ while jolis is \ʒɔ.li\. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12002, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
joie is recorded at frequency rank #1,820, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʒwa\. jolis is at rank #10,182, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʒɔ.li\.
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 12002, this pair ranks #406,946 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of joie vs jolis
Shared letters: ijo. Private to "joie": e. Private to "jolis": ls.
"joie" · 4 letters · shape CVVV · "jolis" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "joie" for "jolis" ever safe?
Frequency check: "joie" vs "jolis" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "joie" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "jolis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #406,946 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "joie" and "jolis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "jolis vs Josie". 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 #406,946 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.