Which to use
“peigne” and “poignet” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,363
- “peigne” frequency rank
- #9,723
- “poignet” frequency rank
- 29086
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | peigne | poignet |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Articulation par laquelle l’avant-bras se joint à la main. |
Where the eye mixes peigne and poignet
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. peigne runs 6 letters (CVVCCV) against poignet's 7 (CVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses peigne with poignet
A purely visual mix-up. peigne (\pɛɲ\) and poignet (\pwa.ɲɛ\) 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 29086, 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\. poignet is at rank #9,723, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pwa.ɲɛ\.
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 29086, this pair ranks #318,823 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of peigne vs poignet
Shared letters: eginp. Private to "peigne": -. Private to "poignet": ot.
"peigne" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "poignet" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "peigne" for "poignet" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "peigne" or "poignet" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "peigne" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "poignet" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #318,823 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "peigne" and "poignet" 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 #318,823 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.