Which to use
“ongles” and “onglet” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,721
- “ongles” frequency rank
- #20,219
- “onglet” frequency rank
- 26940
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ongles | onglet |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de ongle. | Embout de faible épaisseur, de forme courbée, et de silhouette pointue, que l’on porte sur l’extrémité d’un doigt, et qui imite un ongle à la manière d’une prothèse. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ongles and onglet apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. ongles (\ɔ̃ɡl\) and onglet (\ɔ̃.ɡlɛ\) 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 a single letter - s in “ongles” becomes t in “onglet”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26940, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ongles is recorded at frequency rank #6,721, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɔ̃ɡl\. onglet is at rank #20,219, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɔ̃.ɡlɛ\.
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 26940, this pair ranks #331,916 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ongles vs onglet
Shared letters: eglno. Private to "ongles": s. Private to "onglet": t.
"ongles" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC · "onglet" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ongles" and "onglet" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "ongles" or "onglet"?
Remembering ongles vs onglet
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ongles” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable