Which to use
“otage” and “outrage” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,863
- “otage” frequency rank
- #15,454
- “outrage” frequency rank
- 22317
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | otage | outrage |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Personne livrée ou prise afin de garantir des accords entre ennemis. | Injure grave de fait ou de parole. |
Where the eye mixes otage and outrage
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. otage runs 5 letters (VCVCV) against outrage's 7 (VVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses otage with outrage
A purely visual mix-up. otage (\ɔ.taʒ\) and outrage (\u.tʁaʒ\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22317, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
otage is recorded at frequency rank #6,863, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɔ.taʒ\. outrage is at rank #15,454, tagged as anoun, pronounced \u.tʁaʒ\.
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 22317, this pair ranks #358,651 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of otage vs outrage
Shared letters: aegot. Private to "otage": -. Private to "outrage": ru.
"otage" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "outrage" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "otage" for "outrage" ever safe?
Frequency check: "otage" vs "outrage" - 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 "otage" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "outrage" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #358,651 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "otage" and "outrage" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "outrage vs outrée". 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 #358,651 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.