Which to use
“poil” and “publ” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,432
- “poil” frequency rank
- #45,813
- “publ” frequency rank
- 50245
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | poil | publ |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Filet délié qui croît sur la peau de la plupart des mammifères et à certains endroits du corps humain. | Peuplier. |
Where the eye mixes poil and publ
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. poil (CVVC) and publ (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses poil with publ
A purely visual mix-up. poil (\pwal\) and publ (\pybl\) 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 50245, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
poil is recorded at frequency rank #4,432, classified as anoun, pronounced \pwal\. publ is at rank #45,813, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pybl\.
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 50245, this pair ranks #164,158 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of poil vs publ
Shared letters: lp. Private to "poil": io. Private to "publ": bu.
"poil" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "publ" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "poil" and "publ" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "poil" vs "publ" - 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 "poil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "publ" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #164,158 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "poil" and "publ" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "parl vs publ". 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 #164,158 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.