Which to use
“peaux” and “poteaux” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,269
- “peaux” frequency rank
- #13,446
- “poteaux” frequency rank
- 24715
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | peaux | poteaux |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de peau. | Pluriel de poteau. |
Where the eye mixes peaux and poteaux
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. peaux runs 5 letters (CVVVC) against poteaux's 7 (CVCVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between peaux and poteaux
A purely visual mix-up. peaux (\po\) and poteaux (\pɔ.to\) 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 24715, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
peaux is recorded at frequency rank #11,269, classified as anoun, pronounced \po\. poteaux is at rank #13,446, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɔ.to\.
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 24715, this pair ranks #345,034 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of peaux vs poteaux
Shared letters: aepux. Private to "peaux": -. Private to "poteaux": ot.
"peaux" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC · "poteaux" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "peaux" and "poteaux" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "peaux" or "poteaux"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "peaux" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "poteaux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #345,034 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "peaux" and "poteaux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "peaux vs préau". 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 #345,034 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.