pilositévspiloteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#40,421
“pilosité” frequency rank
#2,490
“pilote” frequency rank
42911
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pilosité pilote
Definition Présence de poil ; aspect pileux. Personne qui aide le capitaine d’un navire à l’entrée d’un port ou dans les passages difficiles ; celui qui gouverne, qui conduit un bâtiment de mer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pilosité and pilote apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
pilosité
6 ch
pilote

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. pilosité (\pi.lo.zi.te\) and pilote (\pi.lɔt\) 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 42911, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pilosité is recorded at frequency rank #40,421, classified as anoun, pronounced \pi.lo.zi.te\. pilote is at rank #2,490, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pi.lɔt\.

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 42911, this pair ranks #221,979 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pilosité vs pilote

Shared letters: ilopt. Private to "pilosité": . Private to "pilote": e.

"pilosité" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV  ·  "pilote" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • piloteiplote · pillote · piloet · pilotte · piltoe · piolte · pliote · ppilote

Frequency comparison

pilosité#40,421
pilote#2,490

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pilosité" and "pilote" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pi.lo.zi.te\ versus \pi.lɔt\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pilosité" or "pilote"?
"pilote" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,490 in our French list, against #40,421 for "pilosité". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering pilosité vs pilote

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pilosité” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list