Which to use
“poilues” is an adjective and “polluer” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #49,282
- “poilues” frequency rank
- #29,084
- “polluer” frequency rank
- 78366
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | poilues | polluer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin pluriel de poilu. | Rejeter des produits nocifs dans l’environnement. |
Where the eye mixes poilues and polluer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. poilues (CVVCVVC) and polluer (CVCCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses poilues with polluer
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: poilues is \pwa.ly\ while polluer is \pɔ.lɥe\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78366, 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\. polluer is at rank #29,084, tagged as averb, pronounced \pɔ.lɥe\.
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 78366, this pair ranks #25,932 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of poilues vs polluer
Shared letters: elopu. Private to "poilues": is. Private to "polluer": r.
"poilues" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVVC · "polluer" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "poilues" and "polluer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "poilues" or "polluer"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "poilues" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "polluer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #25,932 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "poilues" and "polluer" 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 #25,932 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.