Which to use
“poi” and “polio” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #40,426
- “poi” frequency rank
- #35,647
- “polio” frequency rank
- 76073
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | poi | polio |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Plat polynésien de consistance pâteuse à semi-fluide, mélange de plusieurs fruits ou légumes. | Poliomyélite. |
Where the eye mixes poi and polio
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. poi runs 3 letters (CVV) against polio's 5 (CVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: poi vs polio
A purely visual mix-up. poi (\pɔj\) and polio (\pɔ.ljo\) 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 76073, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
poi is recorded at frequency rank #40,426, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɔj\. polio is at rank #35,647, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɔ.ljo\.
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 76073, this pair ranks #32,165 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of poi vs polio
Shared letters: iop. Private to "poi": -. Private to "polio": l.
"poi" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "polio" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- polio ← oplio · ploio · poilo · pollio · poloi · ppolio
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "poi" for "polio" ever safe?
Which is more common, "poi" or "polio"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "poi" and "polio" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "poi" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "polio" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #32,165 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "poi" and "polio" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pio vs poi". 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 #32,165 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.