Which to use
“noi” and “noyé” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #43,572
- “noi” frequency rank
- #15,949
- “noyé” frequency rank
- 59521
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | noi | noyé |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Garçon, jeune homme. | Personne qui se noie ou qui a péri par noyade. |
Where the eye mixes noi and noyé
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. noi runs 3 letters (CVV) against noyé's 4 (CVVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between noi and noyé
A purely visual mix-up. noi (\ˈnɔj\) and noyé (\nwa.je\) 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 59521, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
noi is recorded at frequency rank #43,572, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈnɔj\. noyé is at rank #15,949, tagged as anoun, pronounced \nwa.je\.
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 59521, this pair ranks #102,700 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of noi vs noyé
Shared letters: no. Private to "noi": i. Private to "noyé": yé.
"noi" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "noyé" · 4 letters · shape CVVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "noi" and "noyé" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "noi" vs "noyé" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "noi" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "noyé" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #102,700 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "noi" and "noyé" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "noi vs nop". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #102,700 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.