jolivsjongWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,426
“joli” frequency rank
#13,414
“jong” frequency rank
15840
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature joli jong
Definition Qui a de la grâce, de l’agrément. Jeune.

Where the eye mixes joli and jong

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
joli
4 ch
jong

Why the eye confuses joli with jong

A purely visual mix-up. joli (\ʒɔ.li\) and jong (\joŋ\) 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 15840, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

joli is recorded at frequency rank #2,426, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʒɔ.li\. jong is at rank #13,414, tagged as anadj, pronounced \joŋ\.

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 15840, this pair ranks #390,618 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of joli vs jong

Shared letters: jo. Private to "joli": il. Private to "jong": gn.

"joli" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "jong" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • jolijjoli · jloi · joil · jolli · ojli
  • jongjjong · jnog · jogn · jongg · jonng · ojng

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "joli" and "jong" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʒɔ.li\ versus \joŋ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "joli" vs "jong" - which ranks higher?
"joli" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,426 in our French list, against #13,414 for "jong". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "joli" and "jong" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "joli" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "jong" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #390,618 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "joli" and "jong" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "jong vs jor". 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 #390,618 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list