Which to use
“parois” and “putois” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,212
- “parois” frequency rank
- #46,379
- “putois” frequency rank
- 58591
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | parois | putois |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de paroi. | Petit quadrupède carnivore dont la peau sert à faire des fourrures, possédant une glande libérant une puanteur en cas de peur. |
Where the eye mixes parois and putois
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. parois and putois follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between parois and putois
A purely visual mix-up. parois (\pa.ʁwa\) and putois (\py.twa\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58591, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
parois is recorded at frequency rank #12,212, classified as anoun, pronounced \pa.ʁwa\. putois is at rank #46,379, tagged as anoun, pronounced \py.twa\.
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 58591, this pair ranks #108,170 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of parois vs putois
Shared letters: iops. Private to "parois": ar. Private to "putois": tu.
"parois" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "putois" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "parois" for "putois" ever safe?
Frequency check: "parois" vs "putois" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "parois" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "putois" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #108,170 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "parois" and "putois" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pubis vs putois". 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 #108,170 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.