Which to use
“peigne” and “poignée” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,363
- “peigne” frequency rank
- #5,382
- “poignée” frequency rank
- 24745
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | peigne | poignée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Instrument de buis, de corne, d’ivoire, de plastique, etc., qui est taillé en forme de dents et qui sert à démêler et à arranger les cheveux et la barbe. | Quantité de matière qu’on peut prendre dans une main. |
Where the eye mixes peigne and poignée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. peigne runs 6 letters (CVVCCV) against poignée's 7 (CVVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses peigne with poignée
A purely visual mix-up. peigne (\pɛɲ\) and poignée (\pwa.ɲe\) 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 24745, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
peigne is recorded at frequency rank #19,363, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɛɲ\. poignée is at rank #5,382, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pwa.ɲe\.
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 24745, this pair ranks #344,865 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of peigne vs poignée
Shared letters: eginp. Private to "peigne": -. Private to "poignée": oé.
"peigne" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "poignée" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- peigne ← epigne · pegine · peigen · peiggne · peignne · peinge · piegne · ppeigne
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "peigne" and "poignée" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "peigne" vs "poignée" - 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 "peigne" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "poignée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #344,865 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "peigne" and "poignée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "peigne vs plaigne". 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 #344,865 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.