Which to use
“otite” and “ouïe” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #42,505
- “otite” frequency rank
- #20,804
- “ouïe” frequency rank
- 63309
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | otite | ouïe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Inflammation de la peau ou de la muqueuse de l’oreille. | Sens par lequel on perçoit les sons, les autres sens sont la vue, l’odorat, le goût, le toucher ou encore la douleur. |
Where the eye mixes otite and ouïe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. otite runs 5 letters (VCVCV) against ouïe's 4 (VVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses otite with ouïe
A purely visual mix-up. otite (\ɔ.tit\) and ouïe (\wi\) 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 63309, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
otite is recorded at frequency rank #42,505, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɔ.tit\. ouïe is at rank #20,804, tagged as anoun, pronounced \wi\.
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 63309, this pair ranks #82,613 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of otite vs ouïe
Shared letters: eo. Private to "otite": it. Private to "ouïe": uï.
"otite" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "ouïe" · 4 letters · shape VVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- otite ← oitte · otiet · otitte · ottie · ottite · toite
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "otite" for "ouïe" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "otite" or "ouïe" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "otite" and "ouïe" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "otite" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ouïe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #82,613 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "otite" and "ouïe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "otite vs ouate". 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 #82,613 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.