Which to use
“poisons” and “prisons” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,912
- “poisons” frequency rank
- #7,355
- “prisons” frequency rank
- 37267
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | poisons | prisons |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de poison. | Pluriel de prison. |
Where the eye mixes poisons and prisons
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. poisons (CVVCVCC) and prisons (CCVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between poisons and prisons
A purely visual mix-up. poisons (\pwa.zɔ̃\) and prisons (\pʁi.zɔ̃\) 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 a single letter - o in “poisons” becomes r in “prisons”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37267, 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\. prisons is at rank #7,355, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁi.zɔ̃\.
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 37267, this pair ranks #263,686 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of poisons vs prisons
Shared letters: inops. Private to "poisons": -. Private to "prisons": r.
"poisons" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC · "prisons" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "poisons" and "prisons" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "poisons" vs "prisons" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "poisons" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "prisons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #263,686 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "poisons" and "prisons" 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 #263,686 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.