peureuxvsporeuxTell them apart

Which to use

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

#32,115
“peureux” frequency rank
#41,966
“poreux” frequency rank
74081
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature peureux poreux
Definition Qui est sujet à la peur. Qui a des pores.

Where the eye mixes peureux and poreux

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. peureux runs 7 letters (CVVCVVC) against poreux's 6 (CVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
peureux
6 ch
poreux

Why the eye confuses peureux with poreux

A purely visual mix-up. peureux (\pø.ʁø\) and poreux (\pɔ.ʁø\) 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 74081, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

peureux is recorded at frequency rank #32,115, classified as anadj, pronounced \pø.ʁø\. poreux is at rank #41,966, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pɔ.ʁø\.

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 74081, this pair ranks #38,329 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of peureux vs poreux

Shared letters: eprux. Private to "peureux": -. Private to "poreux": o.

"peureux" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVVC  ·  "poreux" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • peureuxepureux · perueux · peuerux · peureuxx · peurexu · peurreux · peuruex · ppeureux
  • poreuxopreux · poerux · poreuxx · porexu · porreux · poruex · pporeux · proeux

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "peureux" and "poreux" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\pø.ʁø\ versus \pɔ.ʁø\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "peureux" vs "poreux" - which ranks higher?
"peureux" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,115 in our French list, against #41,966 for "poreux". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "peureux" and "poreux" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "peureux" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "poreux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #38,329 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "peureux" and "poreux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "poreuse vs poreux". 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 #38,329 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list