Which to use
“poutres” and “prêtres” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,024
- “poutres” frequency rank
- #6,015
- “prêtres” frequency rank
- 24039
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | poutres | prêtres |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de poutre. | Pluriel de prêtre. |
Where the eye mixes poutres and prêtres
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between poutres and prêtres
A purely visual mix-up. poutres (\putʁ\) and prêtres (\pʁɛtʁ\) 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 24039, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
poutres is recorded at frequency rank #18,024, classified as anoun, pronounced \putʁ\. prêtres is at rank #6,015, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁɛtʁ\.
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 24039, this pair ranks #348,990 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of poutres vs prêtres
Shared letters: eprst. Private to "poutres": ou. Private to "prêtres": ê.
"poutres" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC · "prêtres" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- poutres ← oputres · potures · pourtes · pouters · poutress · poutrres · poutrse · pouttres
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "poutres" and "prêtres" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "poutres" vs "prêtres" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "poutres" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "prêtres" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #348,990 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "poutres" and "prêtres" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pourpres vs poutres". 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 #348,990 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.