Which to use
“pilote” and “pivots” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,490
- “pilote” frequency rank
- #49,278
- “pivots” frequency rank
- 51768
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pilote | pivots |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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. | Pluriel de pivot. |
Where the eye mixes pilote and pivots
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. pilote (CVCVCV) and pivots (CVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses pilote with pivots
A purely visual mix-up. pilote (\pi.lɔt\) and pivots (\pi.vo\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51768, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pilote is recorded at frequency rank #2,490, classified as anoun, pronounced \pi.lɔt\. pivots is at rank #49,278, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pi.vo\.
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 51768, this pair ranks #152,614 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pilote vs pivots
Shared letters: iopt. Private to "pilote": el. Private to "pivots": sv.
"pilote" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "pivots" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pilote" and "pivots" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "pilote" or "pivots"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "pilote" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pivots" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #152,614 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pilote" and "pivots" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Piotr vs pivots". 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 #152,614 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.