Which to use
“poilues” and “pointues” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,282
- “poilues” frequency rank
- #24,331
- “pointues” frequency rank
- 73613
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | poilues | pointues |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin pluriel de poilu. | Féminin pluriel de pointu. |
Where the eye mixes poilues and pointues
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. poilues runs 7 letters (CVVCVVC) against pointues's 8 (CVVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: poilues vs pointues
A purely visual mix-up. poilues (\pwa.ly\) and pointues (\pwɛ̃.ty\) 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 73613, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
poilues is recorded at frequency rank #49,282, classified as anadj, pronounced \pwa.ly\. pointues is at rank #24,331, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pwɛ̃.ty\.
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 73613, this pair ranks #39,839 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of poilues vs pointues
Shared letters: eiopsu. Private to "poilues": l. Private to "pointues": nt.
"poilues" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVVC · "pointues" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "poilues" for "pointues" ever safe?
Frequency check: "poilues" vs "pointues" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "poilues" and "pointues" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "poilues" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pointues" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #39,839 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "poilues" and "pointues" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "piqués vs poilues". 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 #39,839 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.