Which to use
“plis” and “polis” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,211
- “plis” frequency rank
- #20,239
- “polis” frequency rank
- 36450
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | plis | polis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de pli. | Dans la Grèce antique, cité-État composée d’une communauté de citoyens libres et autonomes. |
Where the eye mixes plis and polis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. plis runs 4 letters (CCVC) against polis's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between plis and polis
A purely visual mix-up. plis (\pli\) and polis (\po.lis\) 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 36450, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
plis is recorded at frequency rank #16,211, classified as anoun, pronounced \pli\. polis is at rank #20,239, tagged as anoun, pronounced \po.lis\.
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 36450, this pair ranks #269,540 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of plis vs polis
Shared letters: ilps. Private to "plis": -. Private to "polis": o.
"plis" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "polis" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "plis" and "polis" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "plis" vs "polis" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "plis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "polis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #269,540 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "plis" and "polis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "palin vs polis". 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 #269,540 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.