Which to use
“ost” and “otto” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,617
- “ost” frequency rank
- #14,527
- “otto” frequency rank
- 34144
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ost | otto |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ou Armée au Moyen Âge. | Prise, retrait, adoption. |
Where the eye mixes ost and otto
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: ost vs otto
A purely visual mix-up. ost (\ɔst\) and otto (\ˈo.tːo\) 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 34144, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ost is recorded at frequency rank #19,617, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɔst\. otto is at rank #14,527, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈo.tːo\.
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 34144, this pair ranks #285,848 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ost vs otto
Shared letters: ot. Private to "ost": s. Private to "otto": -.
"ost" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "otto" · 4 letters · shape VCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- otto ← oto · otot
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ost" for "otto" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ost" vs "otto" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ost" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "otto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #285,848 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ost" and "otto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "och vs ost". 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 #285,848 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.