outragevsouvrageWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“outrage” and “ouvrage” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#15,454
“outrage” frequency rank
#1,707
“ouvrage” frequency rank
17161
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature outrage ouvrage
Definition Injure grave de fait ou de parole. Travail ; action de travailler.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set outrage and ouvrage apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
outrage
7 ch
ouvrage

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. outrage (\u.tʁaʒ\) and ouvrage (\u.vʁaʒ\) 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 - t in “outrage” becomes v in “ouvrage”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17161, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

outrage is recorded at frequency rank #15,454, classified as anoun, pronounced \u.tʁaʒ\. ouvrage is at rank #1,707, tagged as anoun, pronounced \u.vʁaʒ\.

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 17161, this pair ranks #384,491 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of outrage vs ouvrage

Shared letters: aegoru. Private to "outrage": t. Private to "ouvrage": v.

"outrage" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVCV  ·  "ouvrage" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • outrageoturage · ourtage · outarge · outraeg · outragge · outrgae · outrrage · outtrage
  • ouvrageourvage · ouvarge · ouvraeg · ouvragge · ouvrgae · ouvrrage · ouvvrage · ovurage

Frequency comparison

outrage#15,454
ouvrage#1,707

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "outrage" and "ouvrage" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\u.tʁaʒ\ versus \u.vʁaʒ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "outrage" or "ouvrage"?
"ouvrage" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,707 in our French list, against #15,454 for "outrage". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering outrage vs ouvrage

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 “outrage” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list