Which to use
“poix” and “puit” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,482
- “poix” frequency rank
- #41,476
- “puit” frequency rank
- 79958
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | poix | puit |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Matière résineuse gluante et noire qui s’obtient par la distillation des bois résineux de pins ou de sapins. | Variante orthographique de puits. |
Where the eye mixes poix and puit
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. poix and puit follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: poix vs puit
A purely visual mix-up. poix (\pwa\) and puit (\pɥi\) 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 79958, 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\. puit is at rank #41,476, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɥi\.
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 79958, this pair ranks #22,057 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of poix vs puit
Shared letters: ip. Private to "poix": ox. Private to "puit": tu.
"poix" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "puit" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "poix" for "puit" ever safe?
Which is more common, "poix" or "puit"?
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 "poix" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "puit" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #22,057 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "poix" and "puit" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pio vs puit". 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 #22,057 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.