poixvspuigConfusable pair

Which to use

“poix” and “puig” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#38,482
“poix” frequency rank
#43,094
“puig” frequency rank
81576
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature poix puig
Definition Matière résineuse gluante et noire qui s’obtient par la distillation des bois résineux de pins ou de sapins. Colline, mont.

Where the eye mixes poix and puig

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. poix and puig follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

4 ch
poix
4 ch
puig

Why the eye confuses poix with puig

A purely visual mix-up. poix (\pwa\) and puig (\ˈput͡ʃ\) 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 81576, 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\. puig is at rank #43,094, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈput͡ʃ\.

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 81576, this pair ranks #18,463 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of poix vs puig

Shared letters: ip. Private to "poix": ox. Private to "puig": gu.

"poix" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "puig" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • poix ← opix · piox · poixx · poxi · ppoix
  • puig ← piug · ppuig · pugi · puigg · upig

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "poix" for "puig" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\pwa\ versus \ˈput͡ʃ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "poix" vs "puig" - which ranks higher?
"poix" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,482 in our French list, against #43,094 for "puig". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "poix" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "puig" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #18,463 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "poix" and "puig" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pio vs puig". 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 #18,463 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list