Which to use
“poix” is a noun and “poor” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,482
- “poix” frequency rank
- #37,976
- “poor” frequency rank
- 76458
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | poix | poor |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Matière résineuse gluante et noire qui s’obtient par la distillation des bois résineux de pins ou de sapins. | Pauvre, indigent. |
Where the eye mixes poix and poor
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. poix and poor follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between poix and poor
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: poix is \pwa\ while poor is \ˈpʊɹ\. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76458, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
poix is recorded at frequency rank #38,482, classified as anoun, pronounced \pwa\. poor is at rank #37,976, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ˈpʊɹ\.
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 76458, this pair ranks #31,098 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of poix vs poor
Shared letters: op. Private to "poix": ix. Private to "poor": r.
"poix" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "poor" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "poix" for "poor" ever safe?
Frequency check: "poix" vs "poor" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "poix" and "poor" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "poix" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "poor" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #31,098 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "poix" and "poor" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pio vs poix". 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 #31,098 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.