Which to use
“plug” and “plugin” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,647
- “plug” frequency rank
- #37,973
- “plugin” frequency rank
- 61620
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | plug | plugin |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Prise électrique ; fiche. | Petit logiciel d’application complémentaire qui, associé à une application spécifique, en augmente les capacités, par exemple en lui permettant d’interpréter un nouveau format de données. |
Where the eye mixes plug and plugin
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: plug vs plugin
A purely visual mix-up. plug (\plœɡ\) and plugin (\ply.gin\) 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 extra letter(s) - “plug” sits inside “plugin”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61620, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
plug is recorded at frequency rank #23,647, classified as anoun, pronounced \plœɡ\. plugin is at rank #37,973, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ply.gin\.
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 61620, this pair ranks #91,307 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of plug vs plugin
Shared letters: glpu. Private to "plug": -. Private to "plugin": in.
"plug" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "plugin" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "plug" and "plugin" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "plug" vs "plugin" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "plug" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "plugin" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #91,307 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "plug" and "plugin" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "plugin vs purin". 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 #91,307 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.