Which to use
“poignées” and “poignets” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,114
- “poignées” frequency rank
- #18,284
- “poignets” frequency rank
- 39398
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | poignées | poignets |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de poignée. | Pluriel de poignet. |
Where the eye mixes poignées and poignets
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. poignées (CVVCCVVC) and poignets (CVVCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: poignées vs poignets
A purely visual mix-up. poignées (\pwa.ɲe\) and poignets (\pwa.ɲɛ\) 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 39398, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
poignées is recorded at frequency rank #21,114, classified as anoun, pronounced \pwa.ɲe\. poignets is at rank #18,284, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pwa.ɲɛ\.
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 39398, this pair ranks #248,271 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of poignées vs poignets
Shared letters: eginops. Private to "poignées": é. Private to "poignets": t.
"poignées" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVVC · "poignets" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- poignets ← opignets · piognets · poginets · poigents · poiggnets · poignest · poignetss · poignetts
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "poignées" and "poignets" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "poignées" vs "poignets" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "poignées" and "poignets" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "poignées" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "poignets" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #248,271 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "poignées" and "poignets" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "poigne vs poignées". 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 #248,271 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.