Which to use
“poisons” and “poumons” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,912
- “poisons” frequency rank
- #9,217
- “poumons” frequency rank
- 39129
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | poisons | poumons |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de poison. | Pluriel de poumon. |
Where the eye mixes poisons and poumons
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. poisons and poumons follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: poisons vs poumons
A purely visual mix-up. poisons (\pwa.zɔ̃\) and poumons (\pu.mɔ̃\) 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 39129, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
poisons is recorded at frequency rank #29,912, classified as anoun, pronounced \pwa.zɔ̃\. poumons is at rank #9,217, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pu.mɔ̃\.
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 39129, this pair ranks #250,293 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of poisons vs poumons
Shared letters: nops. Private to "poisons": i. Private to "poumons": mu.
"poisons" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC · "poumons" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "poisons" and "poumons" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "poisons" or "poumons"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "poisons" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "poumons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #250,293 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "poisons" and "poumons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "poisons vs potions". 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 #250,293 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.